Bird table hygiene is vital – What to do

Greenfinshes are particularly susceptible to disease. Credit RSPB

Clean, clean, clean to halt winter bird diseases

November 2009. The RSPB is urging good hygiene around bird feeders, tables and water baths to help garden birds stay healthy this winter. Cold weather can trigger outbreaks of diseases that seriously affect garden birds, and the wildlife charity has released advice on how to help reduce the risk of infections spreading.

Bird diseases - Clean water essential
Wild birds in gardens are susceptible to a variety of diseases, such as certain strains of salmonella in winter, and trichomoniasis in late summer and autumn. And as the weather gets colder, larger numbers of birds visit gardens for our food supplies and fresh, unfrozen water, making it easier for disease to spread.

Resistance to disease is low in winter
The diseases can spread especially quickly if droppings are allowed to mix with uneaten food. In really cold snaps, birds' resistance to illness becomes even lower making them particularly vulnerable, and disease can easily kill them.

Wash your hands
But the RSPB believes that taking steps to keep feeding stations clean and healthy can be very effective in protecting garden birds. It's extremely rare for any bird diseases to pass to people or to pets like cats and dogs. Nevertheless, the RSPB recommends careful hand washing after cleaning feeders and water baths.

Sick birds
Sick birds can be very obvious. Typical signs include lethargy and fluffed up plumage. In some diseases, there are additional symptoms like drooling saliva, regurgitating food, difficulty swallowing and laboured breathing. Some may have matted wet plumage around the face and beak or swelling in the neck.

No treatment can be administered to wild birds. It's impossible to ensure the infected individuals receive an adequate dose and that healthy birds do not pick up the medicine. The best thing people can do is to prevent outbreaks in the first place with good garden hygiene.

The RSPB's Kirsti Peck says: "As the weather gets colder, and our birds come into our gardens in bigger numbers, it is no surprise they can become vulnerable to diseases. It can be very distressing to find sick or dead birds, but there are things you can do to avoid it happening. We all think good hygiene is important in our homes and it need be no great effort to do the same in our garden. We'd urge everyone to clean their baths and feeders regularly to help keep garden bird infections to a minimum."

What to do?
For more information and advice on sick and injured birds visit www.rspb.org.uk/advice. If you are worried about sick or dead birds in your garden email the RSPB's wildlife enquiries team at wildlife@rspb.org.uk or call 01767 693690.