How cleaning your feeders can support the birds

     Wear gloves and empty and clean your feeders to clear the insects, dirt, and germs which linger and grow in your feeders. By clean I mean to empty the seeds, wash them out with dish soap - use a soft sponge not a scouring pad. Wipe the insides with vinegar and allow them to dry before refilling the seeds.
     Do this often and if you do it when the seeds are low - or the feeders are empty - then you will not spend much money on seeds.
     A bird may have a disease and come to a feeder and leave its germs in the seeds. These germs can leave diseases and viruses in the seeds to make other birds ill. They will carry it to other feeders, spread it to other feeders, and so on. This will make many birds ill and you can help to slow this down..
     These germs carry many diseases. Some of them are Conjunctivitis (or red-eye disease), feather plucking (pterotillomania), Avian influenza or bird flu - similar to "human flu".

A Red-lored Amazon at Rock Farm, Belize. It has a feather problem.

Black-capped Chickadee with avian keratin disorder.

Cleaning the feeders may help to avoid these diseases. Some of them do not come from the feeders but we can try to help the birds by volunteering for this cause.