We've noticed them here in Portland again this year. Yesterday I went looking for more info again: Why just Siskins? What's causing it? What can be done??

I've seen disagreements about taking down feeders: These birds flock together at feeders and in the wild and illness will be passed along whether at our feeders or in their natural habitat. But are we causing it? I clean my feeders regularly, dump and compost seed if it seems damp in the tube feeders, don't have any flat feeders at all, and changed the surface under the feeders so it can be cleaned and won't harbor mold, etc. But every year we see sick Siskins.

So I found a link to a discussion on a BC website where one person insists it is related to us feeding shelled sunflowers, which I do. I switched to shelled to reduce the number of rodents that visit us (and it worked) and to avoid the mold that occurs under the feeder when then shells drop and get wet. Does anyone think this is worth further study??http://birding.bc.ca/community/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=144

Elizabeth Collins
Portland, OR

Message: 14
Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2012 09:14:02 -0800
From: Carolyn Oma Heberlein <cf47 at uw.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] Dead and Sick Pine Siskins
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
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In the past week, I found 2 dead pine siskins in my garden in the Fremont
neighborhood of Seattle. Also there is 1 sick siskin in the garden today.
Their behavior is consistent with what I read about salmonella. During the
past week, I also saw a cooper's hawk here. I will be removing my bird
feeders for a couple weeks as is recommended. I don't suppose there is
anything that I can do about the sick bird, but would be willing to try if
anyone has any ideas. Thank you, Carolyn Heberlein, Seattle, WA