Cleaning & Maintaining Bird Feeders
Keeping your bird feeders clean is a very important part
of providing a healthy feeding environment for you and your birds. Moldy
or spoiled food is unhealthy not only for birds but for your outside
pets. Keep seed clean and dry and watch that it doesn't get moldy. Offer
only fresh seed.
Feeders should be cleaned at the beginning of the rainy
season, and then once a month. Check your feeders during or immediately
after a heavy rain to make sure the seed is staying dry. If not, move
it. This is another way to prevent mold growth and disease transmission.
Some of the most serious of the diseases that may be spread at feeders
are mold-borne which thrive on moisture.
For a feeder in which the seed is exposed to the elements,
start with a small amount and see how long it takes birds to polish
it off. Your aim is to put out the amount that is eaten daily. Another
option is to keep the area bare and rake the shells periodically. This
helps to cut down on disease, too, which may be lingering in contaminated
seed or bird droppings. If possible, move your feeding stations periodically,
so there will be less concentration of bird droppings. Provide seeds
from a feeder rather than broadcasting/scattering seed on the ground.
Bird food scattered on the ground also can attract rodents.
Clean your feeders regularly with hot water, soap or detergent,
then dip for several minutes in a solution of 1 part chlorine bleach
to 9 parts water. Rinse and let them air dry completely. Always wash
your hands after filling or cleaning your feeders.
Piling an open feeder full of seed may save you time in
refilling, but it's inviting trouble. Dew, rain, or snow can make the
seed unusable and even unhealthy once mold sets in. Don't allow large
amounts of seed to become wet, as on platform feeders. Instead, when
it's wet outside, feed primarily from covered feeders that will keep
seed dry, or put out only a handful of seed at a time on platforms.
Clean all hulls off your platform feeders and out of seed trays daily
before refilling. A whisk broom makes quick work of the job. Keep some
old spatulas and brushes handy by the feeding station for tough cleaning.
Offer hulled sunflower hearts (or bits) in a tube or hopper
feeder to prevent wet weather from causing them to spoil. If your feeder
collects a residue of uneaten seed at the bottom that tends to stay
there for long periods, as do many "tube" feeders, remove
it periodically.
Give your seed feeders (especially thistle and tube feeders)
a shake before you refill them, to dislodge any compacted seed. Dump
out any wet clumps of old seed. Not only might it harbor pathogenic
microbes, but it's probably pretty yucky.
If you provide suet, reduce the amount you offer in hot
weather. Heat can make suet rancid and unhealthy for birds. Runny suet
can also stick to birds' feathers, making them hard to keep clean and
useful. Use rendered suet or heat-resilient suet blocks that are available
commercially.
Disease caused 11% of bird deaths in our backyards. Crowding at the
feeder - which is a more common occurrence in winter months - can cause
stress, which may make birds more vulnerable to disease. Keeping your
feeder clean and sanitized will prevent most illinesses.
If you see a sick or dead bird at your feeders, halt your feeding for
a few weeks to allow the healthy birds to disperse. This lessens the
possibility of disease transmission. Remove and discard in the trash
any dead birds. Report the sick birds to your local wildlife officials,
many of whom monitor wildlife health.
Plan to refill your feeders every morning, as early as possible, so
that there's fresh seed waiting when birds come looking for it. Wash
your hands thoroughly after filling or cleaning your feeders.
Basic cleanliness will keep your birds healthy and prevent disease
from spreading through the flock you've invited into your yard. Regular
maintenance will also make your bird feeders last longer; wet seed that
accumulates in the feeder can cause the wood to decay.
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