In December I had a sick pine siskin; that prompted me to take down the feeders, sterilize them, and leave them down for a week. Since putting them back up, I have not seen any sick birds. I have three siskin that are regulars to my feeder, and they have stayed healthy. I take down the feeders nearly every single day, clean with hot soapy water, spray with bleach solution, then allow them to dry. I am home except when I grocery shop and take the dog for walks, and I spend a lot of time observing the birds at my feeders. I did have one brief largish flock of siskin stop by about two weeks ago, but they were gone within 15 minutes. When they left I grabbed the feeders and cleaned them on the spot to prevent any possible transmission of salmonella. I am confident that there is not a problem at my feeders and will continue to leave them up until I see signs of sick birds again.
Zora Dermer
Seattle, WA
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On Feb 13, 2021, at 9:10 AM, AMK17 <amk17 at earthlink.net> wrote:
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I have also kept my hummingbird feeder out. But I do cycle them daily especially in cold, snowy weather. One stays out for the day and is replaced in the morning with a clean, not frozen, feeder. Somehow I've accumulated 3 feeders so easy to do and have a couple back up. This morning I did place one more out of snows reach...more to clean tonight but not really that big a deal.
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As Dennis Paulson suggested, also spreading some seed on ground...more concerned about water source today.
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AKopitov
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Seattle, Wa
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-----Original Message-----
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From: Gary Bletsch
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Sent: Feb 13, 2021 8:38 AM
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To: Tweeters Tweeters
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Subject: [Tweeters] feeders
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Dear Tweeters,
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My feeders are all up, as per usual.
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During the siskin irruption that petered out a few weeks ago, there were a few times when large numbers of Pine Siskins visited my feeders, but most of the time, they just flew over and away. There has been a single Pine Siskin at my feeders on and off since then, and that bird appears healthy.
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In some years, I have had sick Pine Siskins at my place during irruptions, and a few have died, or been killed by other animals. A dog that I used to have would sometimes kill an unwary bird, including a sick and unwary siskin here or there. She never got sick from that. What goes around came around, though; the coyotes ended up taking that dog.
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During the recent irruption, I saw zero evidence of sick or lethargic siskins at my place, or anywhere else, although I did an enormous amount of birding all over Skagit County. At least in my area, I think this has been a smaller salmonella outbreak than ones I have seen in the past. Perhaps we are hyper-aware now, struggling through an outbreak of our own.
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There were ten or more Anna's Hummingbirds at my place, up the end of last October. Then the number dropped sharply, and now I have only two or three hummingbirds. I suspect that either there was a natural die-off, or perhaps the resident male drove the others away. This male has been singing lately, gearing up for breeding season. I suspect that the hummingbirds at my place would perish if I took down the feeders. I am aware of very few other houses in the Upper Skagit Valley where hummingbird feeders are still up and running; with the weather as it is this morning, I doubt there is any place where "my" hummingbirds could go to get food, if I took the feeders down.
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If I think of it, I will pay a visit soon to a spot I know along the river, where a male Anna's has been displaying. There are no houses within hundreds of meters of this bird's territory; it will be interesting to see if he survives this storm, living solely on what nature provides.
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Meanwhile, at my seed and suet feeders, the activity is normal. This morning, there are the usual juncos, House Finches, Purple Finches, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrows, and so forth.
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I have ten free-range chickens that spend a lot of time gleaning seeds that the songbirds knock down from the feeders. During the several siskin irruptions that have occurred over the 18 years I have lived here, I have never had a chicken get sick. Bald Eagles and coyotes have taken a lot of my birds, but sickness has never been an issue, even though my flocks have always spent a good part of their days hanging around my feeders. The same was true of the ducks I used to keep--predators would kill them long before any of them lived long enough to get sick.
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I visited with a friend near Concrete recently. She has dozens of feeders up, and well over a hundred birds visiting her feeders all day long. She has not seen a sick siskin this winter, either, and is planning to keep on feeding.
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If I were seeing sick birds here, I would clean the feeders with chlorine bleach, keep them down for a few days, and then put them back up. Seeing none, I will continue to feed.
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Yours truly,
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Gary Bletsch
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garybletsch at yahoo.com <mailto:garybletsch at yahoo.com>
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AMK17
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