TIL my neighbor thinks bird feeders spread disease, so she took hers down.

We were chatting over the fence yesterday and she said she read an article about salmonella outbreaks at feeders, so she removed hers completely. I'm torn because I love watching the birds but I don't want to hurt them either. Do you think the risk is big enough to stop feeding birds altogether?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade2712mo ago

Honestly I feel like we're overthinking this a bit. Birds get diseases with or without our feeders, they're wild animals. Taking it down completely seems like an overreaction to me. Just clean the thing regularly like you would a pet dish, and maybe space out your feeders so birds aren't all crammed together. The joy and help we give them, especially in winter, feels way bigger than a small risk we can manage.

abby_king221mo ago

Oh totally, this reminds me of a time last winter when I had this finch feeder out and I got real lazy about cleaning it for like a month. Then one morning I looked out and saw a house finch with these crusty eyes and I felt so bad. I scrubbed the thing with vinegar and hot water and it was fine after that. But yeah, if you're the type who forgets to clean stuff like me, maybe just put out less seed at a time so it's gone before it gets nasty. I keep my feeder in a spot where birds don't crowd too much and it's been working okay.

matthewp522mo ago

Yeah, it's a real thing. In my area they actually put out alerts when pine siskins are around because they carry it. You can still feed birds, just gotta clean the feeder like once a week with a bleach solution.