How we can clean the bird feeder safely? By BirdFeederist

Cleaning the bird feeder is very important to keep the squirrels away from the feeder. Moreover, a dirty feeder can contain different kinds of germs, bacteria, and mold, which is very harmful to the birds. One infected bird can spread the illness in the whole area, which can destroy the entire colonies of the birds. So this can be a very alarming situation for any area. But you don’t need to worry about it; you can easily take care of your bird feeder. You can easily clean out your bird feeder by following some simple steps. Let’s firstly see some main issues with a dirty bird feeder.

How we can clean the bird feeder safely
How we can clean the bird feeder safely

Main issues with a dirty bird feeder

The first main issue is the spreading of the epidemic, as discussed above as well. This is the most dangerous thing associated with dirty feeders. A dirty feeder can be responsible for some other problems as well. Let’s see some other issues:

  • A dirty feeder can attract the majority of other unwanted audiences, which include squirrels, insects, mice, and rats. All these wild audiences can damage your feeder and also minimize the purpose of your feeder.
  • The build of the molds and grease can damage your feeder and lawn as well. Moreover, this thing can be spread out in your whole lawn environment.
  • A dirty feeder in a community is against the rules of the community. You should follow the guidelines about the outdoor community appearances.

Tips for cleaning out the bird feeder safely

There are different ways of cleaning the bird feeder safely to minimize the chances of spreading any disease in the community. Moreover, a clean and healthiest feeder is more attractive for the birds as compared to a dirty feeder. You can follow the below steps to clean out the bird feeder safely to attract the maximum number of birds.

1. Choose a good feeder        

The first and the most important thing is about the choice of a suitable feeder, which is easy to clean. Try to buy a feeder that can easily be assembled and reassembled. You need to buy a feeder that is easily cleanable from the inner side. Moreover, it is also observed that it’s difficult to clean a wooden feeder as compared to plastic and metal feeder. Because wooden feeders absorbed the water and oil, which makes them very difficult to clean out, so make sure to buy a feeder made up of recycled plastic or metal material.

2. Regular cleaning

Regular cleaning is another step to prevent the feeder from getting mold and rust. When we talk about proper cleaning, it means a thorough cleaning of the feeder in a minimum of a month. You can also follow the routine of a minimum once a week cleaning to prevent a thorough cleaning of once a month. But the cleaning of your feeder also depends upon the environment, feeder type, and a number of birds. If you are living in a hot area or the maximum number of birds uses your feeder, you need to clean your feeder frequently. Usually, the seed containing feeders don’t require more frequent cleaning as compared to nectar containing feeders. You can simply follow a routine of cleaning your feeder on each refill.

3. Use of cleaning solution        

Whenever you are going for the thorough cleaning of your feeder, you can use a particular cleaning solution for your feeder. You can make a solution with hot water and bleach for thorough cleaning. This solution should contain nine parts of warm water and 1 part of bleach.

 4. Soaking the feeder

Soaking the feeder first is also important to make it easier for cleaning. You can just use a utility sink to soak out your dirty feeder before thorough cleaning. Make sure all parts are entirely soaked before cleaning.

5. Clean all parts

Cleaning of all the parts is essential to prevent the birds from any epidemic. These parts include all the inside and outside surfaces, all ports, perches, and stands, etc. Moreover, you can also clean out those places in your garden where the birds can sit during the feeding. These places include the feeder hook, tree stem, pole, or any other bird’s favorite place.

6. Use brush and gloves       

You can also use special tools like brushes and gloves to clean out your feeder safely. There is some particular type of brushes to clean out the inner side of the feeders. You can use these brushes to clean the narrow spaces in the feeder like ports. An old toothbrush can also be used to clean out the ports of the feeder. But a stiff pipe cleaner can be more suitable for the feeder ports.

7. Properly Rinse

After the thorough cleaning of all the parts of a feeder, you need to rinse your feeder part for some time. Because cleaning solution can contain harmful chemicals for the feeding birds, so you need to use clean water for some time to remove any remaining toxic chemicals from the feeder.

8. Completely dry

The last part of the cleaning is about the drying of your feeder each part after a thorough cleaning. You can also leave it for some time in sunlight. It can be very beneficial to get rid of any remaining harmful chemicals. Moreover, sometimes people reassemble their bird feeder after thorough cleaning without drying. This can lead the feeder towards mold and rust creation. So make sure each part of the feeder is free from any kind of water.

Cleaning of feeders around places

The cleaning of the around places of the feeder is also essential to maintain the cleaning of your feeder. Because birds mostly use the feeder around areas during the feeding. These places can include tree stem, perches, window fronts, and many other places in the garden. Moreover, you need to free your garden from any kind of dead flowers and fruit, etc.

Sometimes birds eat the food from the feeders and leave some food material outside, which can be responsible for the dirtiness of your feeder. So make sure to clean out the outer places of the feeder regularly.

Conclusion

From all the above discussion, we can conclude that cleaning a bird feeder is very important to prevent any epidemic situation in the area. But we don’t need to worry about it; we can follow some steps to keep our feeder clean. You can just focus on the above measures to maintain the cleanliness of your bird feeder.

 

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