Food, Feet, Faeces & The Route To Wild Bird Health

“Feeding the birds in our gardens is the most beautiful and natural thing you can imagine, it brings pleasure to millions of us”. What is wrong with that statement? I would argue with the word ‘natural’.

In my view supplementary feeding is anything but natural, and further, that how we do it is directly responsible for the explosion in wild bird disease in the last 20 years.

My name is Dick Woods, together with my son Andrew, and with the support of well-known Naturalist Martin Hughes-Games, we have set about challenging every facet of wild bird feeding.

Some people believe that we shouldn’t feed birds at all, however the last 300 years of industrialisation, urbanisation and human population growth have drastically reduced the food available naturally for wild birds.

Our view is that we need to support birds and we should do it responsibly.

As I will explain, there is much more to that, than giving our feeders a quick clean. We must face the fact that we are feeding intensively, and on an inter species level, which doesn’t happen in nature, evolution hasn’t prepared our birds for it.

HOW IT BEGAN

My story begins around seven years ago, when was the proud host to a flock of around 40 green finches. I had three of the biggest side port wild bird feeders I could buy. If I cleaned them once a year it was a lot. One day I found a sick bird, a month later all my Greenfinches were dead. I had no clue about the problem, or the fact that I was responsible.

Following research, I learned my Greenfinches had died from ‘Trichomonosis’, a parasitic disease, passed from bird to bird as they feed. The parasite causes the birds throat to swell, they cannot swallow. As they try to feed, they deposit infected saliva into the feeder and the next bird to feed is infected. There is no cure or treatment, the birds die of starvation in around three days.

The UK Greenfinch population has collapsed, they are now endangered.

Chaffinches are now in dramatic decline, as Trichomonosis moves from species to species.

I am an aged design engineer, with expertise in commercial vehicle superstructure. Having said that, good design is based around problem solving, I spent several years chewing over the concept of safe bird feeding. Eventually I had to scratch the itch and prototype my first wild bird feeder, Finches Friend Nature was created.

The first step in any design is to identify what problem you are trying to fix. Here I return to the title “FOOD, FEET & FAECES”. This is the key to addressing the decline in our wild birds.

Let’s look at them individually.

FOOD

The key points to consider in relation to food, are that the food is provided dry, and remains dry and free of mould whilst in the feeder.

Secondly that the vessel providing the food is quick and easy to clean and that the material it is made from is non porous and has a smooth surface.

It should not be possible for the birds to be able to access the food with anything except their beak!

Within the topic of food we need to include WATER where many of the same rules apply. If we are going to provide water for intensive inter species use, we must provide it clean.

We as humans have Potable, Grey and Black water, this separation is to stop disease transmission. For the birds, we offer an open water source that stands around for weeks or months, usually a dirty container, that is offered as a combination of Potable grey and black water, disease transmission is an inevitable consequence.

FEET

Birds don’t wash their feet! We need to design bird feeding products that exclude the potential of disease transmission from foot to food, feet and food should not mix.

FAECES 

Food, drinking water and faeces simply don’t belong together. There are numerous examples of food and faeces being mixed in our gardens. Bird tables, window feeding trays, the ground under feeders, traditional bird baths are examples. 

Faeces carry Salmonella amongst other things. We must always remember that in a natural situation, it is highly unlikely that food and faeces would mix.

Within the next few weeks, our product range will have grown to five. Our feeders designs are dramatically different to everything else in the market.  Our inspiration is drawn from a single thing, the welfare of the birds, and is based around the concept of separating Food, Feet and Faeces.

Our hanging Cleaner Feeders have no side ports to allow rain ingress, we have moved the birds underneath where we can keep the food dry. We have introduced ‘feed stations’ which can be removed for cleaning without removing the food from the feeder. Cleaning is now quick and easy.

Our Window Cleaner Feeders keep the food dry, the birds cannot stand or defecate in the food. Again we have a removable feed station that can be easily and quickly cleaned.

Our Cleaner Water Drinker ensures that the water the birds drink is completely clean. Once again the birds cannot stand in the water, no feet, no faeces. Our removable Drinking Station ensures easy cleaning.

The area under garden feeders has long been a concern to us. Whilst our Gold Finches, Sparrows, tits and Robins feast on the feeders, Chaffinches and other ground feeders pick up the pieces on the floor. Damp soil, discarded food, husks, feet and faeces are a lethal cocktail, disease thrives here.

It is important that feeders are moved regularly. Almost no one does this. We are developing systems which will enable rotation with ease. We will demonstrate the systems at the Global Bird Fair in July. 

At Finches Friend, our vision is a future free of disease spread in our gardens.  We’ve created ethical solutions, made in the UK, that make it easy to feed the birds clean, dry food and clean water. 

We believe there should be minimum welfare standards for products in the feeder supply industry.  We want to see the end of conventional bird tables, bird baths and novelty feeders, which don’t have bird welfare at their core.

In the US and Canada, state-wide feeding bans are instituted to control disease outbreaks, and we hope to see authorities and charities in the UK introducing a similar system. 

Please join Finches Friend in fighting for the welfare of our birds spread the word about how important it is to clean feeders weekly, and to regularly rotate feeder position. 

Separating Feed, Feet & Faeces is key to protecting wild birds and reducing the spread of disease.