{"id":10075,"date":"2021-04-15T16:57:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T20:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=10075"},"modified":"2021-08-18T11:44:40","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T15:44:40","slug":"how-to-clean-a-bird-feeder","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thebackyardnaturalist.com\/wordpress\/how-to-clean-a-bird-feeder\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Clean a Bird Feeder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Because clean feeders matter when it comes to the health and well-being of your backyard birds. It’s so easy to do and it makes a big difference! To understand why it’s important, also see ‘Quality Food & Clean Feeders Matter<\/a>‘.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

When to clean feeders:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Normally, we recommend every two weeks, more frequently as traffic increases and immediately any time you see signs of mold<\/strong> (find out more about mold in bird feeders here<\/a>) or if you’ve seen a sick bird visit your feeder. If you’ve seen a sick bird at one of your feeders, there’s a chance it has visited one of your other feeders (or baths), too. If this happens, give them all a simple, but deep cleaning<\/strong>*.
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* A deep cleaning is basically an energetic and thorough routine cleaning, with the addition of a good soak after scrubbing. You’ll use boiling hot soapy water with either a little added bleach or using equal parts boiling hot soapy water and white vinegar<\/em>. Note: Don’t use bleach for your wood feeders as the smell of bleach may never rinse off!<\/em> See our step-by-step guide for cleaning below.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you will need to clean your feeders:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n