Overview
- RSPB, which issued new guidance Friday, asks households to stop filling seed and peanut feeders from May 1 to October 31 to cut the spread of trichomonosis, while allowing small amounts of mealworms, fat balls or suet year‑round.
- Trichomonosis is a parasite that infects birds’ mouths and throats, spreads via saliva on shared food and water, and persists longer in warm months when birds crowd communal feeders.
- The charity tightened hygiene advice by urging weekly cleaning and moving of feeders, daily changes of birdbath water with tap water, and retiring flat‑surface tables where contaminated food can collect.
- This year’s Big Garden Birdwatch involved over 650,000 people counting more than nine million birds, with results showing greenfinches down about 67% since 1979 and starlings down about 85% with record‑low garden counts.
- The RSPB says it is not asking people to stop feeding, encourages bird‑friendly planting to provide natural food, and advises resuming a full range of seeds and peanuts from November to April.