Rake up any seed hulls beneath your feeders. If left to decompose, hulls can harbor bacteria that can spread disease to your backyard birds.

If you dread spending a Saturday morning cleaning several bird feeders at once, try rotating your feeders so that one is thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and dried each week. That way, the chore doesn’t become burdensome.

Poorly maintained feeders may contribute to the spread of infectious diseases among birds. The feeders themselves can sometimes pose hazards too. Here are some helpful hints for successful bird feeding.

People wonder whether bird feeding causes birds to change their migratory behavior. The clue that most birds use to migrate is the change in day length rather than the availability of food. Also, peak migration time is late summer and fall, a time when natural foods are readily available anyway. So, it is unlikely that feeding birds has any effect on their migratory patterns.

Many people also worry about what will happen to their backyard visitors when they go on vacation. Ideally, a neighbor or friend should stop by to restock your feeder. Otherwise, try to taper of gradually before you go. Don’t fret, however, it is fine to stop feeding briefly. In winter, natural food sources often disappear overnight when they are covered by snow or consumed by other animals. Birds have adapted accordingly – studies show that even birds with full access to feeders consume three-quarters of their diet elsewhere, and that when feeder birds are deprived of supplemental food, they quickly revert to an all-natural diet. If your neighbors have feeders too, you can rest even more assured that your birds will not starve.

Feeding birds year round is not only enjoyable, but also helpful to some feathered friends who may need a little help during certain times of the year. Hard-pressed parents busy with nestings benefit from feeding, as do their young who often come to the feeders, too. Offering food in the summer can also be helpful, particularly in urban areas where food sources are limited.

An ideal food for birds in the summer is fruit. Platform feeders are best suited for holding pieces of fruit such as sliced apples, soaked raisins, soft cherries, bananas or oranges.

Suet is an excellent food for summer feeding, as well as in the winter. Suet provides birds additional protein that they usually obtain from eating insects. Woodpeckers and other seed-eating birds eat summer suet during nesting.

Be sure to hang suet in the shade during hot summer months. This will help prevent it from going rancid. Rendered suet may be more appropriate during these months than non-rendered. To avoid worrying about your suet spoiling in the heat try our Hi-Vitality cakes. Hi-Vitaliy uses vegetable shortening which helps them to withstand the heat that suet cannot take.

As the “bird restaurant” proprietor, you have a responsibility to keep the eating establishment clean. Done on a regular basis, it not a big chore at all. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Before you refill a feeder, take a few minutes to clean and disinfect. Use warm soapy water with a little chlorine bleach (use one part bleach to nine parts water). Let the feeder thoroughly dry before adding seeds.
2. Occasionally sweep or rake spilled hull and seeds from beneath feeders.
3. Don’t throw feed on the ground. It’s healthier for songbirds to feed at a feeder, not directly from the ground. In a feeder, the food can be kept dry, and protected from contamination.
4. From time to time, it’s a good idea to move the feeders so that the debris and droppings can be assimilated.
5. Discard moldy or spoiled food, and disinfect containers. Always use fresh high quality feed. Store in a cool dry place.
6. Make sure the feeders are safe. Sharp edges can injure birds, and increase the potential for disease