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WILDLIFE LEARNING CENTER
Any cage bird owner or zookeeper will tell you, when you feed birds in a confined area, you have to expect bird droppings, feathers, an occasional insect or two and left-over food mess.
While you don't have to wash the feeder daily, you should clean it regularly. Diseases like salmonella can grow in moldy, wet seed and bird droppings in your feedr tray and on the ground below. It's a good idea to move your feeders (just a foot or so) each season to give the ground below time to assimilate the seed debris and bird droppings.
Keeping your feeders clean should not become a major undertaking. The degree of maintenance required is directly related to the types of birds you want to attract.
A thistle feeder for goldfinches should be cleaned about once a month depending on how often it rains. Feeding Hummingbirds requires cleaning at the very least, weekly, preferably more often -- two or three times a week. Sunflower and suet feeders may need to be cleaned only once a month.
Feeders made of plastic, ceramic and glass are easy to clean. Wash them in a bucket of hot, soapy water fortified with a capful or two of chlorine bleach, then give them a run through your dishwasher.
Use the same regimen with wood feeders, but substitute another disinfectant for the bleach so your wood won't fade.
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