Home / Environment / Garden Birds Face New Feeding Ban
Garden Birds Face New Feeding Ban
13 Jun
Summary
- Gardeners urged to stop feeding seeds and peanuts in summer.
- Trichomonosis disease highly contagious and deadly to finches.
- New RSPB advice aims to curb disease spread among garden birds.
Gardeners are now urged by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to cease providing seeds and peanuts in feeders from May 1 through October 31. This significant shift in advice, updated in April, aims to mitigate the spread of trichomonosis, a devastating disease. Finches, especially Greenfinch and Chaffinch populations, are highly vulnerable to this parasite.
Trichomonosis targets a bird's upper digestive tract, causing lesions that impede swallowing and nutrient intake. The disease risk escalates during summer and autumn when birds congregate at feeders. Sick birds regurgitating contaminated food can rapidly infect others, leading to population declines. The RSPB's evidence review highlights that supplementary feeding exacerbates disease transmission in gardens.
The conservation charity recommends alternative foods like fatballs, suet, and mealworms, which finches rarely consume, thereby posing less risk. This strategy aims to discourage finches from clustering at feeders, encouraging them instead to forage on natural summer food sources. Additional measures include cleaning feeders regularly and ensuring daily water changes.
