Enough redpolls yet?

I put some fancy feed in this one and they crowded it
until it was empty.

Probably a little bit of overkill, but there is something new about them, especially if anybody is feeding them.  Last night I cleaned and disinfected all my feeders after reading the following on the Audubon user groups page.

With so many people reporting large flocks of redpolls mobbing their
feeders, I’d like to share some tips from the Bird Treatment &
Learning Center about preventing the spread of disease.

Salmonella and E. coli are two pathogens that can be spread at bird
feeders. Birds suffering from an infection will often appear more
fluffed and less active than the rest of the flock and may stay for
long periods of time on or under a feeder, seeming to eat but actually
just mumbling their food around and dropping it again (well bathed in
microbes).

It’s a good idea to start sanitizing feeders between fill-ups with a
10% bleach solution, if it is a plastic feeder. For wooden tray
feeders and areas on the ground, scrape up seed remains and spray with
diluted white vinegar (I'm guessing 30% vinegar).


Chris Maack
Bird Treatment & Learning CenterAnchorage 

A male pine grosbeak maybe have been suffering
from what Chris Maack was talking about.

I had seen one bird that look and acted like it had the symptoms he describes.  It was a male pine grosbeak and here is a picture of it.

And last night cleaned and disinfected and refilled the feeders.

Nothing stops them.  Another week another 40-pound bag of sunflower seeds.  Come on Spring.


If you haven't had enough YET, here's a gallery from today.

Also the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has an article about superflights and why we might be seeing so many redpolls this year.

Original story.