The Importance of Cleanliness and Hygiene in Bird Tables and Feeders
When putting a bird table or feeder in the garden, few people I suspect, ever give a thought to cleaning the feeders.
They stand or hang in place, are topped up with feed every so often and we sit back and watch the birds feed.
What a lot of people do not realise is the importance of keeping the feeders, bird baths, water dishes and nest boxes clean, our kindness in providing for the garden birds could be the one thing that is killing them. One species in particular, the Finches, are suffering a high mortality rate due to a disease called trichomoniasis, a particularly nasty illness that causes lethargy and a swelling around the neck which eventually leads to the bird not being able to swallow which inevitably leads to weakness and death, many being taken by predators due to the symptoms preventing the bird from fleeing the predator.
The disease is caused by a parasite that thrives in damp conditions like bird baths and water dishes, birds flock to drink or bathe together causing the spread of the disease more quickly.
Wild Birds cannot be treated for this disease, however, caged birds of the Finch family can be treated successfully.
Prevention is the best cure, which means cleaning bird tables, feeders, baths and nest boxes on a regular basis. Remove stale food and disinfect the feeding stations.
This year numbers of greenfinches seen in gardens has fallen dramatically, the cause being attributed to this disease. It should be noted that the disease is not harmful to humans, cats or dogs, however, a second common disease found around dirty feeders and tables is salmonella, which of course can be passed on to humans and pets. Salmonella is most likely caused when feeders are left dirty throughout the winter and are then subjected to the warmth of Spring and Summer when an outbreak of the disease can spread rapidly throughout the bird community.
It doesn’ take long to clean bird feeders, all those sold at Oaktree Home and Garden Centre are designed to be easily cleaned, so let’s make it a regular job as part of our dedication to our wild birds.
Technorati Tags: Bird+Table, Feeder, Bird+Bath, Nest+Box, trichomoniasis, finches, greenfinch, salmonella, hygiene, disease, parasite,
November 18th, 2007 at 18:48
[…] check the full story here […]
December 11th, 2007 at 3:32
You make a very good point. People take so much for granted when it comes to wildlife and birds in particular.
Don’t get me started on slug pellets.
Birds are suceptible to tummy bugs and god knows what, that can be found in their food same as us. People should be more careful with their bird feeders and nest boxes. Bird baths are just as bad. After all if a bird with some bird-bug has a bath the next bird might catch the bug.