Why you should think carefully before feeding birds

[watervole]

 Recent research has shown that some fatal diseases in garden birds are spread by bird feeders.  The RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) stopped selling bird tables several years ago, and have now issued guidelines on what times of our one should not feed at all, and how often seed and suet feeders should be disinfected.

After thinking about it, I've taken down my feeders.  They were getting very little use in recent years, and when I'm unwell, I can't clean them regularly enough.

I still have plenty of plants that attract insects, and a tree with rough bark where I often see small birds looking for food.

Advice from the RSPB 

Comments

[bugshaw]

Thanks, I've made a card to go in my calendar to remind me in May and November what to do and why. I'd heard some talk of this, but the RSPB advice you posted was useful on the what, when and why.

I don't have a lot of useful plants, but next door has been untouched for a good five years and that's where the birds nest undisturbed, lots of ivy on that side of the fence for them.

[annofowlshire]

We took down our bird feeders (inherited from the previous property owners) when we got chickens figuring that given bird flu epidemics, we shouldn't be inviting a place for the disease to spread from (particularly to our hens, but also the wild ones).

[watervole]

Excellent! And very organised.

Ivy is wonderful stuff. It gets maligned, but birds love it.

[watervole]

I hadn't thought of that aspect, but it makes excellent sense when you have chickens.

[julesjones]

I was mildly annoyed that this came out a few days after I'd bought the sack of chipped sunflower hearts in nestling size chips, along with a spray bottle of disinfectant... Well, they and the peanut fat blocks will keep until autumn. I'll just have to live with the Accusing Stares from the hedge in the meantime.

We'd only just started using the feeders again after a couple of years of them lying idle because of a rat problem. The only reason we did was because Husband insisted that we needed to get rid of them as part of the garden spring clean, and as we were sorting through what was in good enough shape to donate to the local charity shops we turned around to discover we were being watched by a hopeful looking robin on top of the feeder pole.

[vera_j]

The hygiene of bird feeders is well known here - our Czech Bird Society (which I am a member of) has been lecturing people for a long time. Without feeders, our bird would suffer...especially in February and March, which are called "hungry months", plus April this year, which is extremely cold. Brids are nesting and there are no berries or seeds left. I have already "consumed" 60kg of special feeding mixtures for wild songbirds. I have two feeders and every day I have to fill them, now twice. But I have lots of many birds: All kinds of tits, sparrows, goldfinch and other kinds of finch family, garden doves, robins, even woodpeckers. And I clean and dissinfect the feeders every year ( well, I bought a new one, plastic, with a big supply compartment). I can´t imagine being without watching the lot every day !

[watervole]

I recommend reading the article in detail. A lot of this is new research.

eg. You should disinfect feeders once a week, not once a year.

You should not feed seeds or nuts at all from the start of May to the end of October. (wild food is more abundant, and chicks need soft food like insects and mealworms)

Also, move the feeders regularly to avoid stuff building up beneath them.

Sadly, it's partly the large number of birds that causes the problem. They spread infections to one another, mainly via their saliva.