Understanding Wild Bird Disease in our Gardens

We recently gave an interview for 50 Plus Magazine, and it was a nice summary of the state of wild bird feeding, and everything we’re doing to help combat the spread of disease. The article is reproduced below.

Cleaner Feeder

Cleaner Feeders 1, 2 and 4 are truly unique patented products. Avoiding disease means segregating the stored food from the birds until the point of feeding. Keeping the food dry, and making cleaning easy. You can clean our feeders with the food still in place, simply rotate the base to cut the food flow, and drop the base off for washing. It takes minutes and so gets done! We recommend weekly cleaning. Dry food, from a perch!

Based on losing their own Greenfinches to disease some years ago, they set about learning the science, and looking for solutions. Dick and Andrew Woods, talk about Finches Friend Nature.

Dick gives some back ground. “We must start with some scary numbers. In the last twenty years, we have lost six million Greenfinches and Chaffinches to a parasitic disease called Trichomonosis (BTO). The depletion of our finches accounts for 16% of our 60 year overall wild bird loss. Simply, we feed wild birds intensively in our gardens, and they share disease they would not share in a truly wild situation”.

“Can we feed safely? We believe the answer is yes, but we must feed very differently to today. The parasite is shared through saliva and faeces, but it is supercharged by rain and damp”

Cleaner Window Feeder

Cleaner Window Feeder is the only window feeder in the world to genuinely provide dry food from a perch and combat disease. Provided with two interchangeable cartridges, it can be cleaned in minutes. Each CWF is provided with a fat ball spring.

“Feeders must segregate feeding from the food store, we call this ENCAPSULATION. Put simply, standard tube feeders allow direct rain access to the food through the ports. in this situation the parasite can live and replicate in the food provided. Birds should never be able to defecate in the food they are provided.

Secondly we must stop secondary feeding, this is food dropped onto the ground. We need to stop this food dropping and make it inaccessible to the birds, we call this INTERCEPTION.

Next we need to move our ground feeders away from the foot of feeder poles, we call this SIGNAGE.

We must provide water to DRINK but not to bath in”.

Cleaner Peanut Feeder

Cleaner Peanut Feeder encapsulates the peanuts, and ensures that they are always dry. The nuts are fed over a cone and so are fed in age order. No rotten core of nuts to spread disease. We provide a rain shield, and two grilles, a perching grille and a feeding grille. We cut food foot contact by up to 60%.

“Finally we need to make everything really easy to clean, sub five minutes, that way it will get done.

At Finches Friend we are well on the way to providing a complete solution, with most elements in place now”.

Dick’s history is in commercial vehicle superstructure. Spending years travelling the world, providing solutions to customers, with sixty fast approaching, the loss of his Greenfinches created new purpose in his life. “Product development is a strange world for an independent, a sketch pad, endless experiments and failures is simply part of the process” he states. “I had never worked in injection moulded products, I had to learn a completely new way of manufacturing”. “The key is finding the right partners to work with, and they are out there”.

Dick explains, “Our research lead us to Canada, where the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative had published two fantastic papers, CWHC Trichomonosis and CWHC Strategies to prevent and control bird feeder associated diseases and threats. These have become our bible” Woods says.

“our first products were our hanging feeders CF1, 2 and 4, we learned that feeding low on the structure was really important, that is where “encapsulation” comes in. At the base of the feeder we can provide rain protection and add our patented cut off system, which allows the area the birds feed from to be removed whilst leaving the food in place. Effectively removing the area that can contain disease to wash, we call this the feed station”

“The next product we created was our “Cleaner Window Feeder” says Woods. “The standard Window feeder product had long been a concern. It is simply a tray, open for the birds to defecate in, and for rain to directly access. We wanted better”

“We created a product that encapsulated the food, added rain protection and created perching points each end. We interpreted the CWHC guidance and created a safe product” Woods states.

Zero Invasive Guarding

Cleaner Feeder 1, 2 and 4 can be provided with our Zero Invasive Guard, ZIG. The simple way to stop Parakeets and Squirrels. There is no impact on cleaning, simply release two springs and remove the base for washing.

He continues, “Onward from there, we needed to resolve the issue of Peanuts. Most people have seen a mesh tube of Peanuts, mouldy in the centre. With peanuts, we introduced encapsulation, rain protection and feed over a cone which gives us dry nuts in age order. There is less waste, and healthy product. We add a second grill for perching which cuts disease transfer by foot”.

“Today we have beaten interception, capturing the material that is dropped, this is very much a disease vector. We are close to a commercial product, based on this research”. He states.

What about Squirrels Dick? “Wow, this was a head ache. We set ourselves a goal of not just stopping squirrels but stopping Parakeets and not impacting on cleaning! We tried all kinds of solutions, protecting just the base of the feeders, sheet metal, wire, lots of different attachments. We had to defeat the Squirrels, the Parakeets and not become unappealing to the ultimate customer, our finches and tits. We ended up with a product we call ZIG (Zero Invasive Guarding). It is an all encompassing cage made specifically for us. It has a quick release base which gives access to the Feed Station to wash, and enables the feeder to be released for filling. Our products are relatively heavy, that is a real benefit when combatting Squirrells, they are unable to tip the feeders, and can’t reach the food through the grille. Of all the products we have developed ZIG was the hardest. Perhaps the most important element of ZIG is that we avoid the mechanisms common in “squirrel proof” feeders. They cannot be cleaned properly in my view, and usually enable food to get wet”.

Cleaner Nest Box

Nest boxes need to be cleaned annually, a build up of chemicals from pet hair is killing our Tits

We make cleaning easy with the box still hung.

Just two simple thumb screws on the underside releases the old nest.

What are the latest developments for Finches Friend Dick?

“We have identified wild bird health issues in nest boxes. As a result we are developing and selling our own boxes whenever we can justify a scientific benefit. It became clear that our Blue Tits specifically are being poisoned by pet hair. Sometimes people provide it intentionally, sometimes it is simply around and Tits gather it as a natural nesting material. The problem is that it is laced with pesticide, applied by us to stop flees and ticks on our pets. We have developed nest boxes that can be cleaned in minutes. Our boxes stay fixed to the wall or tree, the base with wipe clean cartridge is removed in seconds”.

“The most exciting thing in my world at the moment is the Swift. For anyone unfamiliar with this wonder of nature. Our Swifts come to the UK to nest. Every year they will fly around 9,000 miles to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and back. Flying at almost seventy miles per hour. They only land to nest, they eat, sleep, and mate on the wing. Even their nest material is gathered flying. Having flown to DRC, they will return to exactly the same place each year to nest.

An important point to make here is that there is a popular misconception that a grounded Swift cannot take off from the ground, this is untrue. If you find a grounded Swift, it needs help. It should be placed in a ventilated box placed in a quiet place and a rehabber contacted. Please do not try and provide food or water. Please do not try to throw the Swift in the air as some suggest.

I am part of a Swift group, and transport sick or injured Swifts to rehab, it is the most rewarding thing to do.

Cleaner Swift Box

Our Swift box available from late may is truly revolutionary, enabling the nesting section to be removed out of season avoids competitor occupation, access to the nest enables the removal of Swift Louse Fly eggs, breaking the parasite life cycle.

Cleaner Swift Box enables the removal of plastics, sadly this is the story of our age,

Swifts acquire their nesting materials on the wing, nexts can now be up to 60% plastics, especially in urban areas.

Provision of suitable nesting materials can increase the chances of box occupation. (Available in limited numbers from mid to late May)

Swifts are in decline primarily because of a lack of nesting places. They like our buildings, and as we have closed eves for insulation the nesting points they have come to rely on have disappeared.

Through the Swift group, I learned of three things I could do to help. Firstly Swifts arrive in late April, often their nest boxes have been occupied by competitor species, secondly, Swifts carry a parasite called the Swift Louse Fly, and finally, Swifts collect airborne plastics to nest with.

We have developed a Swift box which is in two pieces and can be taken down using a drain rod. This simple system enables the box to be deployed in mid April, it also enables the removal of Swift Louse fly Eggs, the removal of plastics, and the substitution of suitable nesting materials”.

What are your hopes for the future Dick?

At the moment RSPB are undertaking a scientific study on wild bird feeding. They have withdrawn some products already. I really hope that the wild bird feeding industry will institute change and education. We have lead the way in following the science, I really hope that every garden will feed the birds safely, clean dry food, free of disease, water to drink only. When people understand the issues they will join us in feeding birds safely”