Soon, your thoughts may turn to feeding your garden birds to help them through the autumn and winter. For many species, this is a good thing to do – it really does make a difference. But sadly, it also has the potential to cause harm, particularly by disease transmission.
You may have heard of trichomonosis, a horrible disease that seems to have had a major impact on populations of greenfinch and chaffinch. It’s caused by a parasite, a protozoan, that gets into the throats of infected birds and makes it difficult to swallow. The disease is transmitted in the saliva of infected birds, which can contaminate bird feeders, food, water or bird baths. Because birds may gather at bird feeders and bird baths in higher numbers than they would elsewhere, the potential for disease transmission is exacerbated. There is also some evidence that damp bird food on bird tables or other flat surfaces may be even more likely to spread disease. Because of this, the RSPB has, for now at least, stopped selling bird tables.
How you can help
1 Following the RSPB’s lead, it seems a good idea to stop providing food for birds on flat surfaces.
2 You can still provide food and water for your garden birds, but clean your feeders regularly* and keep water containers and bird baths clean too. You can find out more about how to do this on this RSPB webpage. Bird feeders should be emptied after a day or two if the food hasn’t been eaten. Restock them with just enough fresh food. And, if you can, move your feeders around your garden from time to time.
3 Buy good quality food for your garden birds – they’re worth it! Don’t buy a stock that will last you months and months – aim to restock frequently. Store it somewhere cool in a sealed container to protect it from the damp.
4 If you see a bird in your garden that you think has trichomonosis or another disease, stop putting out bird food for at least two weeks. You can start again if you aren’t seeing poorly birds.
There’s also some thinking that feeding garden birds may give some species an unnatural competitive edge over similar, declining species – specifically, marsh and willow tit. But that’s another story…
In the meantime, enjoy those birds.
*The RSPB advises at least every few weeks, but ideally once a week if possible.
