Songbird Protection Coalition

The Bird Feeder You Didn't Clean
A House Finch with swollen, crusted eyes perches blindly on a seed-caked feeder in the freezing March wind, desperately pecking at empty plastic.

We assume providing seed is a harmless act of kindness that consistently supports local wildlife.

In reality, native House Finches (Haemorhous mexicanus, Status: Secure) and wintering Pine Siskins (Spinus pinus, Status: Irruptive) are congregating heavily at artificial food sources right now in March as natural winter seed stocks deplete. An unwashed feeder is a deadly vector. Mycoplasmal conjunctivitis (House Finch eye disease) and Salmonella thrive on these shared, dirty surfaces. The infection causes severe eye crusting, leading to permanent blindness and starvation. During recent outbreaks, salmonella killed over 100,000 Pine Siskins in a single season. Every infected bird that visits leaves bacteria behind for the entire flock.

These seed-eating songbirds are vital, interconnected components of the woodland food web, managing w**d populations and sustaining native raptors like Cooper's Hawks. A disease outbreak destabilises this local balance.

You must intervene. Scrub your feeders every two weeks with a 10% bleach solution, rinsing and drying them thoroughly, or remove them entirely.

The sick bird you saw yesterday infected every bird today. You are either safely feeding them or actively killing them.

Baby bird season is officially a GO! We’ve admitted our first babies of the year: these two young Mourning Doves. Compared to years prior, these doves are much older than the hatchlings we usually see this time of year. After the nest was attacked by a predator, the parents were nowhere to be found, and the babies were left injured. Thanks to prompt dressing of the wounds, they are healing up great and will hopefully be learning to eat on their own soon!

As early spring nesters, Mourning Doves are almost always our first baby patients of the year, soon followed by House Finches and Mallard ducklings in mid-April. As we care for these two, we are also preparing the rest of our nursery for more babies to come!