Marlene,

Don't know what your feeders are made of, but I've heard
the heat cycle in the dishwasher kills lots of germs. I've
also heard that chlorine bleach breaks down fairly quickly,
so I wonder if it could ever amount to a pollutant just
from household use.

Concerning the finch conjunctivitis, it was mentioned that
the sick birds are constantly wiping their eyes against
the feeders. This would mean the tube type feeder, where
the bird must stick part of its face into a hole in order to
get a seed would be a particular danger.

My reflex when I see diseased birds at my feeders is
to just pack them away for that season. Of course, what
that might mean is that more birds will concentrate at
other feeders that are left up, increasing the risk at those.
No easy answers.

Chris Maack
Bird Treatment & Learning Center
Anchorage, AK
CMaack at compuserve.com