The birds need our help!

[Lee Borgersen]

                Birder alert: Get in the habit of cleaning feeders

March 25, 2014
 
As the snow and ice have attempted to recede, I've been trying to run in my neighborhood. It’s a dangerous obstacle course of pavement, frozen slush mounds and sheets of ice but I’m desperate to be outside and enjoy a challenge.

The recent melt has revealed all sorts of potential danger for birds. One home in my neighborhood surprised me because it had seed scattered everywhere. The picture I grabbed with my phone only tells a partial story, this was just one section of yard. The entire perimeter of the property was covered in corn and nuts.

I live in a very urban area of Minneapolis and I’m not sure if this was an attempt to attract squirrels or even the handful of urban deer that live in the nearby cemetery. I suspect the homeowner has heard the dire predictions of birds having a tough time this winter and wanted to do all they could and dump a boatload of seed outside.

This is actually a terrible idea. As the snow melts, the seeds and hulls will become moldy leading to a breeding ground for salmonella. Birds also don’t pay a huge amount of attention to where they poop. Sure, they know enough to eat around it, but accumulated bird poop under feeders takes its toll and can spread illness. It’s important to not only clean a bird feeder periodically, but to also rake up or shovel the mess under the feeders.

You absolutely must wash the feeder and should take all bird feeders down for at least a week if you ever see sick or dying birds perched on them. It’s difficult to do, you see the sick birds and for most of us, that instinct to help and care for them kicks in, but it’s going to be harmful to the rest of the flock if sick birds at the feeder spread what they have to the healthy birds.

Very few bird feeders are dishwasher safe and the best way to wash bird feeders is to use a mild solution of bleach and water, generally one part bleach to nine parts water. It’s recommended to wash bird feeders every two weeks. Now, I know most of us have busy lives and that’s just not going to happen, but once a month or at the very least, once a season.


I never thought of all this. Just goes to show you can always learn something here at MNO

[Boar]

cool read lee.