WHEN AND HOW SHOULD I CLEAN MY BIRD FEEDERS?

WHY DO I NEED TO CLEAN MY BIRD FEEDERS?

Nobody is cutting about the countryside disinfecting every bush that birds feed in, so why do we need to clean our feeders?

Feeders create artificially high densities of birds feeding in the same place. Have you ever seen several pigeons, two collared doves, some starlings and a robin feeding from the same branch at the same time in the wild? More birds together increases the chances of diseases spreading.

DISEASE

We need to clean our feeders to prevent the spread of disease. I won’t turn this into an essay about types of bird disease, but I’ll mention the poster child of diseases at bird feeding stations: trichomonosis.

Trichomonosis is a disease that initially infected pigeons, doves, and birds of prey – particularly captive birds – but it has spread to our finches and now threatens greenfinches and chaffinches.

The disease can be spread at feeding stations, so it’s important that we keep them clean.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I CLEAN MY FEEDERS?

How long is a piece of string? ‘Regularly’ is all we get from most sources of reliable guidance, which is vague.

If there’s poo on your feeder or in your water dish, then your feeders need to be cleaned. Equally, if there is old food that is starting to go mouldy you should clean your feeders.

On top of this, you should clean your feeders on a regular basis even if poo or food isn’t building up.

How often you clean will depend on how much food you provide, how many birds visit your garden, and the type of feeders you have.

I change the water and wash the water bowl most days, wash the feeders every few weeks and hose the feeding station down about once a week.

HOW SHOULD I CLEAN MY FEEDERS?

Lots of sources say to use a disinfectant with a dilution no stronger than 5%. There are products available to buy online, but they often come pre-diluted, so you’d be needlessly shipping water (with the associated carbon footprint).

Washing up liquid generally meets the definition of a disinfectant with a dilution no stronger than 5%, so that’s what I use. You can dilute domestic bleach too, but I don’t tangle with that.

Clean your feeders like you’d clean anything else – dunk them in a bucket of hot, soapy water, scrub them with a brush or wipe with a cloth, and then rinse and allow to air dry.

I’ve seen some posts recommend putting them in your dishwasher. I wouldn’t do this for two reasons: one, it’s not very hygienic and whilst Trichomonosis isn’t a risk to humans, some diseases from wildlife (like Weil’s disease) are; two, against the advice in point one I once put my water bowl in the dishwasher and it cracked – most bird feeders aren’t dishwasher friendly, and now the birds have to drink from a duct-taped bowl.

Seriously though, don’t bring dirty bird feeders inside and don’t use any bowls or cleaning utensils that you use for human or pet stuff. Wash your hands thoroughly.

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?

As well as cleaning, move your feeders around every now and again and try to avoid build-up of poo or left-over food.

Split up feeders so that there are fewer birds feeding in the same place and provide multiple feeding options.

If cleaning feeders is becoming a chore (I feel you - scrubbing those tall ones is a challenge), you could try feeders that are easier to clean. For instance, coconut shells filled with suet, wire cages for fat blocks, and mesh dishes for seed are far easier to clean than tall, complicated plastic feeders. Some providers make feeders with removable feeding sections which are easier to clean.

WHAT IF I SEE A BIRD THAT LOOKS DISEASED?

Symptoms of Trichomonosis include lethargy, fluffed-up plumage, wetness around the bill, and difficulty swallowing. If you see these symptoms, or any other poorly looking birds, should you stop feeding?

Yes, you probably should. Most diseases can’t survive long out in the open, so if you wash your feeders and take them down it should stop it sitting around, and the argument goes that removing the feeders encourages birds to feed as they usually would: in lower densities with lower risk of spreading disease.

The glaring hole in this response, acknowledged by the British Trust for Ornithology, is that in all likelihood the birds will just flock to a different feeder nearby – which could worsen the problem by increasing feeding density, especially if your neighbours aren’t as fastidious about cleaning their feeders as you are. For that reason, it’s sometimes thought preferable to continue feeding but ramp up your efforts to disinfect feeders and to ensure your feeders are as spread out as possible.

If you do stop feeding, the BTO recommend keeping your feeders away for two weeks and checking that all signs of disease are gone before reinstating them.

Should I be feeding the birds?

There's some debate within the conservation community at the moment about whether we should be providing so much food and so many nest boxes for our birds. I've talked about this here.