Attracting and feeding birds in the backyard is quite an enjoyable activity for sure.
I do it and have done it for many years now.
And at times, backyard bird feeders can attract a lot of birds but there is a drawback, however, by having so many wild birds in one place, bird droppings.
Keeping the wild bird feeders clean is an ongoing and important part of feeding birds in the backyard.
If you choose to attract and feed wild birds, you also need to keep the bird feeders and birdbaths as clean as possible.
One type of feeder, the mesh thistle seed feeder, can attract large numbers of goldfinches at once and, as a result, get covered in bird droppings very quickly and clog the feeder holes.
A quick routine scraping each time you refill the feeder with a wire brush will help keep the mesh thistle feeder clean and the openings free of bird droppings.
Every so often, depending on how active your mesh thistle feeder is, a wash in warm water and dish soap is also needed to help clean the feeder from any disease that might be present in the bird droppings.
After washing, let the mesh feeder thoroughly dry before putting it back out and filling it up again with nyjer seed, even a small amount of moisture can cause thistle seed to mold.
Wire mesh thistle feeders are a fantastic bird feeder to attract both lesser and American goldfinches to the yard but they do need to be cleaned regularly as all bird feeders do in fact.
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We use wire mesh feeders year-round and have had as many as a dozen or more goldfinches on one feeder at a time and as many as 30 or more all at once hanging on three feeders simultaneously.
But from that kind of success with a wire mesh thistle feeder attracting large numbers of goldfinches to the yard comes the constant need and responsibility to keep them clean.
Cleaning a wire mesh thistle feeder is as easy as a quick scraping with a wire brush and a regular wash with warm water and dish soap but it needs to be done to not clog the feeder holes and to help keep diseases from spreading that might be present in the bird droppings.
An alternative to having to scrape the wire mesh feeder is switching to a sock feeder where it can be thrown away when the feeder becomes soiled with bird droppings.
Enjoy the pastime of backyard bird feeding but do it responsibly by keeping the bird feeders clean.
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We love having our own backyards suited for birds, bees, butterflies, and any other creature in nature that comes by and it’s pretty easy to turn almost any backyard into a small and beneficial piece of wildlife habitat.
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