I had a very sick Common Redpoll at one of our feeders this morning, a situation being reported elsewhere as well. Cause is believed to be dirty feeders. Our damp, cold spring is part of the problem. Wet seed debris in feeder trays and spoiled seed provide places for growth of what is believed to be salmonella. Our bird sat quietly, feathers fluffed up, head tucked to the side. It allowed me to approach far closer than normal before it weakly flew into the brush. Our worst problem is with thistle seed. Much of it gets tossed into the tray by feeding birds. A little moisture and you have seed paste. I cleaned feeders last week, but the problem can return quickly. It’s a good idea to clean all of your feeders now even if you see no sick birds. Empty the feeders, soak and scrub them in soapy water. Disinfect them with a 10 percent bleach solution. Let them dry thoroughly before adding fresh seed and putting them back out. I’m going to clean ours again, and I’m taking the thistle feeder down until the redpolls and siskins move north into their summer territories. Oh: seed debris on the ground also can be a problem. I use a shop vac to remove it. The National Wildlife Health Center Web site has more information. Go to www.nwhc.usgs.gov

This entry was posted on Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 9:56 am and is filed under Backyard birding, Bird biology, Bird feeding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.