Researchers warn that bird feeders could aid the spread of disease

Diseases among bird populations are on the increase and, as a growing number of households take to feeding their garden birds, researchers have claimed that bird feeders are contributing to the spread of dangerous pathogens, viruses and bacteria in certain species.

Scientists from both the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) have learnt that poor cleanliness, the accumulation of droppings around feeders and the build-up of stale food are aiding the transmission of diseases between garden birds. A problem made worse by the tendency of feeding stations to attract large numbers of birds – including species who would not usually encounter each other at such close quarters in the wild.

Trichomonosis is a notable example of a disease whose spread is facilitated by bird feeders: a condition transmitted largely, it is thought, through contaminated food sources and caused by the parasite Trichomonas gallinae. This disease…