As my Pine Siskin flock got bigger and bigger this winter, I started to notice that a few of the birds looked a little too lethargic to be healthy. I first observed it when one bird would sit in the dry part of the heated birdbath each morning and take a nap. It was awfully cute, but I knew it meant trouble.
One day I went out to fill the feeders and discovered a little carcass. That’s when I knew I’d have to take further action besides keeping the birdbath and feeders clean. Large flocks of birds can become victims of a salmonellosis outbreak which spreads from fecal contamination of food and water by sick birds. It can also spread from bird to bird. I had so many Pine Siskins visiting my yard at at time that there wasn’t room at the Nyger feeders for all of them, and many of them were feeding on the ground. That’s a prescription for disaster when an illness breaks out.
Thankfully we had a January thaw for a few days which allowed me to sweep up all the seed under each feeder and dispose of it. I took down one feeding station entirely and cleaned all the remaining feeders. I kept the Nyger feeders out of commission for several days. When I finally filled them again and took them outside, I put a Nyger feeder at each station with other hanging feeders rather than putting them all at the same station. This would disperse the birds.
Unfortunately while the feeders were down, there were still a few sick birds hanging around. On a sunny day I went out to check the other feeders and almost stepped on a bird that was sunning himself on the ground near the south side of our garage. I looked around and he had 2 buddies with him. They could all still fly, but they spent most of their time soaking up the sun and sleeping.
There really wasn’t anything I could do for them, so I just let nature take its course. In a few days they were gone.
Since then I haven’t had any problems. We’ve had frigid temperatures over the last couple of weeks, and the large flock of Pine Siskins has moved on. I still have a few Pine Siskins that visit my feeders, but nowhere near the number I had earlier this winter.
I’m still keeping a close eye out for any signs of illness.