How to Protect Backyard Finches From Disease

Everyone loves to see house finches at the feeder. They are a colorful, cheerful species of songbird and often travel in flocks, so you'll see many of them at once. However, eastern house finches are being infected with a disease, commonly called "house finch disease" that infects their respiratory tract. The most recognzable symptom is conjunctivitis, which makes finch eyes swollen and leads to blindness.
A few simple steps will help you prevent house finch disease from spreading among the finches that stop at your feeder.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Common household bleach Wild bird food formulated for finches Finch feeder with perches

1. Hang your feeders far apart. House finch disease, which affects the whole respiratory system but attacks the finches' eyes, is most common when finches are crowded together. This allows the disease to spread.

2. Clean your feeders. Use a 10 percent solution of bleach (1 part bleach to 9 parts water) and let the feeder dry thoroughly before hanging it and filling it.

3. Rake up bird droppings and spilled feed periodically.

4. Watch for signs of a sick bird. Most likely, the finch will be on the ground trying to peck for feed and be quite weak. Finches don't die from the conjunctivitis, but they die from starvation or from predators.

Tips & Warnings

• If you see a sick bird, clean all debris from beneath your feeder and immediately disinfect your feeder. You may also want to make a report that will help wild bird health experts track the disease. Find out how at the website linked below.
• Don't stop feeding your finches. In the long run, this helps the finch population survive.

Resources

• Cornell University's Wild Bird Frequently Asked Questions