How to Maintain Bird Feeders By Rachel Dawson At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Bird feeders benefit from regular maintenance, although the maintenance tasks are easy to carry out. The most obvious of these tasks is refilling the feed. When you refill feeders as necessary, you provide a reliable source of food for the birds. If you refill them on a hit-and-miss basis, birds probably won’t starve. But they will look elsewhere for food. You will have to start all over again in attracting birds to your feeding area or yard. The other two regular tasks revolve around cleaning. You should maintain the area around the feeders, and you should clean out the feeders every few months or so. Keeping the area neat and clean reduces the risk of spreading disease among the birds that frequent your bird feeders.

Keeping a supply of feed on hand and refilling the feeders when they get low will be your most frequent maintenance task. But your attention to this task will ensure that you enjoy regular visits from birds. You may choose from various types of feed, depending on the birds you wish to attract. Black-oil sunflower seeds probably appeal to the widest variety of birds. Therefore, sunflower is a popular feed choice. With sunflower seeds, you can attract chickadees, jays, sparrows, blackbirds, finches, cardinals, and even woodpeckers. Mixed seed is also a popular choice. Millet, corn, suet, and fruit will attract additional species to your yard.

You will need to clean the area around your bird feeders periodically. To carry out this task, rake up the seed hulls. If you allow them to stay there, they will begin to decompose. At this point, they can kill your grass, and they can also spread disease among the birds. You can prevent both of these conditions with a few minutes of raking every now and then.

Hummingbird feeders should be cleaned once a week, but you can clean other bird feeders less frequently—seasonally, or once every few months. Cleaning your bird feeders keeps them from spreading disease. When you prepare to clean, start with a basin of hot, soapy water. Mix one part bleach with nine parts water in a separate container. When you take down the feeders, dump out any remaining seeds. Wash the feeders in the soapy water and dip them into the bleach solution. Rinse them well afterward. Make sure they have dried completely before you refill them. Rehang the feeders.

Bird feeders come in all kinds of decorative colors and designs. As you shop for feeders, determine whether you can carry out these three tasks. You should refill the feeders as needed, clean the area surrounding the feeders periodically, and clean and sterilize the feeders themselves every few months. If you can attend to these chores, you should be off to a great start. Go pick out your favorite bird feeders and plot where you will place them and which feed you will stock them with. If you’re new to bird watching, grab a field guide and see how many birds you can identify.

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