In her latest column, ManxSPCA general manager Juana Warburton discussed new guidance on feeding wild birds issued by the RSPB...

Who would have thought it – feathers are flying in a furor over feeding wild birds!

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has just issued revised guidance for when and how to feed wild birds. Its advice to the estimated 16 million UK households that feed wild birds is that, come 1st May, they should stop putting out seeds and peanuts for their feathered visitors, and only resume feeding on 31st October. The primary reason for this, says the RSPB, is that in the warmer months busy feeding stations, where birds congregate, can turn into disease hotspots.

The spread of a disease called trichomonosis has caused significant declines in species such as greenfinches and chaffinches. Once a familiar sight in UK gardens the greenfinch population has decreased by two million and they are now on the ‘red list’ of endangered species. Trichomonosis is caused by a parasite that affects the respiratory and digestive tracts of a bird, causing them a slow death. Infected birds shed the parasite in their saliva and faeces, and this is how feeding stations can become problematic.

However, some ornithologists have argued that this blanket, seasonal feeding ban is unnecessary and may cause birds to suffer. They state that the availability of natural food sources (insects, for example) varies across the country, and that every garden is different. In some places birds don’t use feeders very much because they don’t need to, but in other areas there is little alternative.

Not unsurprisingly the pet industry is most annoyed by the RSPB’s latest advice – it estimates that the UK public spends some £380 million a year on bird food, and it creates significant revenue for the sector. The industry body, UK Pet Food, says that the evidence informing the changes is still evolving, and that much of the research underpinning it has not yet been published or widely peer-reviewed.

Whilst the RSPB seems intent on clear and consistent messaging, it does seem a little arbitrary that 1st May is a definitive cut-off. A sparrow or blackbird that is used to a ready supply of food, and indeed may be feeding a brood of youngsters, will not be au fait with the Julian calendar and may struggle to switch to find its own natural food sources so suddenly.

Surely a more common sense approach would be for households to taper the amount of food being put out for wild birds over a few weeks, and to gradually reduce the amount of seeds on offer. Peanuts can present a choking hazard for young birds and so these should be off the menu in the breeding season. The RSPB says that it’s OK to continue feeding suet and fat balls, and soaked mealworms, on the basis that these are lower in energy – but that does seem to contradict the overall message.

What is very clear, though, is that feeding stations and water bowls need to be regularly cleaned. There is evidence to suggest that flat feeding stations, a.k.a. traditional bird tables, are much more likely to become contaminated, and should be avoided. And where food is provided in hanging feeders, these should be moved to different parts of the garden after cleaning to prevent a build-up of faeces underneath. It goes without saying that bird feeders should be placed high enough to deter predatory cats, ideally over prickly bushes.

Other common sense measures include: don’t put out more than a day or two’s worth of food at any one time to reduce the likelihood of disease contamination and over-feeding; try to keep food as dry as possible because damp food allows disease to survive and spread; and, longer-term, help garden birds to find their own natural food by filling your outdoor spaces with bird-friendly (and easy to grow) plants such as sunflowers and ivy.