Bird Feeders – Pinkeye and Port Feeders

Birdfeeders – Pinkeye and Port Feeders

That bird feeder in your backyard could be doing more than just feeding birds. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. A disease called Pink Eye has been effecting House Finches, and its thought to be being spread by bird feeders.

Hawley: One of the most unique features of this disease is that people who watch their feeders can detect the presence of the disease.

Dana Hawley is an associate professor at Virginia Tech’s Department of biological sciences. Her research has shown that Pinkeye, a bacterial disease, is spread when infected birds use certain types of bird feeders.

Hawley: You can absolutely see it sometimes without even binoculars if the bird has a very severe case. To spot a house finch with Pink Eye, you just look at the outside of the eyes – usually very swollen, and sometimes they get so swollen that the eye is completely crusted over and the bird can’t really see it all. And the birds are usually easy to spot because they typically behave differently — they’re more lethargic, they kind of just sitting on the feeder. And so often people noticed them for that reason.
I don’t think people should stop feeding birds. House Finches are so dependent on bird feeders, that I actually think there would be no House Finches around here without feeders. It’s a really important source of over winter survival, not just for house finches but for a lot of birds. Winter’s the time year when they really struggle to meet the energetic demands of keeping their body temperature up. So bird feeders serve really important role, not just for House Finches but for lots of small songbirds that need that energy source during the cold winter.

So is there anything those of us with backyard bird feeders can do?

Hawley: We do think that the port style tube feeders are more likely to transmit this particular disease, because it is easier for an infected bird to to kind of leave some bacteria on the sides of the port when their feeding. So one thing you can do is put out more of a platform style feeder that might minimize the transmission of this particular bacteria.

I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Bird Feeders - Pinkeye and Port Feeders

Pinkeye, a bacterial disease, is spread when infected birds use certain types of bird feeders.
Air Date:11/08/2016
Scientist:
Transcript:

Birdfeeders - Pinkeye and Port Feeders

That bird feeder in your backyard could be doing more than just feeding birds. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. A disease called Pink Eye has been effecting House Finches, and its thought to be being spread by bird feeders.

Hawley: One of the most unique features of this disease is that people who watch their feeders can detect the presence of the disease.

Dana Hawley is an associate professor at Virginia Tech's Department of biological sciences. Her research has shown that Pinkeye, a bacterial disease, is spread when infected birds use certain types of bird feeders.

Hawley: You can absolutely see it sometimes without even binoculars if the bird has a very severe case. To spot a house finch with Pink Eye, you just look at the outside of the eyes - usually very swollen, and sometimes they get so swollen that the eye is completely crusted over and the bird can't really see it all. And the birds are usually easy to spot because they typically behave differently -- they're more lethargic, they kind of just sitting on the feeder. And so often people noticed them for that reason.
I don't think people should stop feeding birds. House Finches are so dependent on bird feeders, that I actually think there would be no House Finches around here without feeders. It's a really important source of over winter survival, not just for house finches but for a lot of birds. Winter's the time year when they really struggle to meet the energetic demands of keeping their body temperature up. So bird feeders serve really important role, not just for House Finches but for lots of small songbirds that need that energy source during the cold winter.

So is there anything those of us with backyard bird feeders can do?

Hawley: We do think that the port style tube feeders are more likely to transmit this particular disease, because it is easier for an infected bird to to kind of leave some bacteria on the sides of the port when their feeding. So one thing you can do is put out more of a platform style feeder that might minimize the transmission of this particular bacteria.

I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.