Spring Cleaning for the Birds

Although it can (and should) be done anytime of the year, Spring is a great time to clean your bird feeders. Keeping them clean will help maintain the health of our little avian friends.

Here is a step-by-step procedure for cleaning your feeders that is really easy:

You will need a tub of soapy water, clean water, bleach, and brushes to get gunk off.

1. Have two shallow tubs, one with soapy water (warm water and dish soap) and another tub with water and a small amount of bleach (10 parts water to 1 part bleach.) Scrub brushes of various kinds can help get the caked on seed off.

Brushes will come in very handy here!

2. Soak feeder in soapy water until caked on seed is easy to scrub off.

Soak feeder in the soapy water until the stuck-on bird seed comes off easily.

3. Soak clean feeder in water with mild solution of bleach. After that rinse the feeder thoroughly to remove any of the bleach water.

Soaking in a weak bleach solution will help disinfect your bird feeder.

4. Dry feeder thoroughly and let it sit in the sun for a few hours. The sun is a great disinfectant!

Ahhhh, this bird feeder looks new and ready to hang!

5. Fill your feeder with seed, re-hang and watch the birds flock in!