i think they ought to stay out of your yard ...

and you ought to do what makes you happy ...

why are you giving them reign over your garden ....

crikey ,..

ken

ps: just because someone has an opinion .. doesnt mean i have to.. nor want to hear it ... so go stick it in your ear you bird nazi's ...

its bug and seed season.. so i would have no qualms cutting off food ...

but i wouldnt cut off water in the mid summer .. they are relying on it ... especially in drought ...

if you dont want to do it next season... just dont.. and they will cope from the gitgo ... but not once they are relying on you ... though.. with dew season im sure they can get what they need regardless ...

theyve been around for millions of years without us.. a good argument could be made... that they dont need us ...

ken

It's not that I don't want to put water out for them. I definitely do, it's the Audubon Society who seems to think it will protect them from getting sick from the mystery illness that is killing birds in the South. I just don't see how cutting off their usual water supply that they are depending on this season is going to protect them, since they will still get together with other birds at ponds and wherever they move on to, to get water.

And sure they did without us for millions of years, but why do they even visit backyards for food or water? I would suspect with an overpopulated planet that has been developed so much a lot of the resources they had for millions of years have dwindled. Not to mention polluted waters.

I didn't fill my bird baths on Saturday or Sunday but I'm reconsidering refilling them. Sounds like you agree with me.

In the DC area, we were told to remove bird feeders in late spring to prevent birds from congregating and spreading the mystery disease. The disease was widely reported in the local media at the time. Of course I took mine down. Several months later most of my neighbors still fill their feeders. Frustrating. I haven't take in my bird bath. The weather's been hot and dry so I'm outdoors watering pots every couple of days and I rinse out the bird bath each time. I scrub it with cleanser weekly.

Mine's kept filled. Even tho, as I mentioned in another thread, there is a small creek not far away. When my bath is empty for a long period of time I'm sure they go there - with other birds.

On the other hand, bird baths can get pretty nasty looking. I carry a scrub brush with me when I go to fill it.

Okay, so what you're saying is that the Audubon is not suggesting to stop filling your bird baths to reduce birds congregating, but it's because they fear dirty bird baths? Then why not just say, clean your bird baths?

I rinse mine twice a day with jet on the hose nozzle and refill. I have a lot of robins that take baths multiple times a day....or I did. Then I leave it empty for an afternoon in the full sun to dry it out and sterilize it. If cleaning them once a week is all I need to do I could do that too, just to be safe. I can never decide what cleaner to use that won't be a problem for the birds. What are you using?

I'm using dish detergent. I just cleaned it since you reminded me ;) Audubon USA may say to remove bird baths but our local wildlife officials/DNR say to clean them "frequently".

My birdbaths are decorative. One is under an roof and never has water the other is a fountain birdbath and we put bleach in it once a week to keep the water clear. The birds aren't dumb they know not to bath or drink from it. We have plenty of streams, creeks, ponds and rivers for the birds to get water year round. No needs for birdbaths. I'm aware some places are not so lucky. Rivers, creeks, etc water is cold, constantly moving, large amounts of water and being constantly refreshed with new ground/spring water. Any virus/bacteria is constantly being diluted. Birdbaths are warm and small amounts of stagnant water. Great breading ground for dz. Personally I don't see a problem if the water is dumped and the birdbath is sanitized then refilled everyday, but not everyone is going to do that.

I was just outside watering some newly sown seeds in the vegetable beds and a bee tried to get a drink from the water flow and I thought oh great, even the pollinators have nowhere to get a drink on a hot day. We did have water droplets on all the plants this morning but right now it's hot and full sun out there and humid. I wish I knew how this effects them. Can they go for a whole day with just a drink of water off a leaf in the morning?

Function - You make a good point, moving water, creeks, rivers, moving water is best place for them to get water, but we don't have anything like that here. And the local pond that I just visited yesterday is not looking all that great. Not a lot of movement of the water and there are swans and canadian geese making a mess everywhere. And I'd never seen this before but there seemed to be algae floating in the water at the edge. when you say moving water from ground spring water...I see that on TV in British Columbia up in the mountains. [g]

Refilling the birdbaths twice a day after using high pressure water to rinse it out and scrubbing them out once a week with soap is about all I'm willing to do. I've been doing it for years and never had a dead bird. Have a high population of birds. My birdbaths are in the shade, with a couple of hours of sun in the morning, so they are not sitting there in the sun all day. And when I started to see too many birds I added more baths to give them enough space. I'm just trying to be helpful to the wildlife and balance that with my own needs.

Prairiemoon, not BC, but western Pennsylvania. Not really mountain, but very hilly. The Canadian Geese are a PIA.

I have Robins and Cardinals in my yard right now with baby birds to care for

no way im shutting off my water source

Both my fountains run 24/7 and water is changed daily

A news report yesterday said the mystery bird deaths in the DC region have dropped substantially. They still don't have a diagnosis.

I'm sorry to take so long to respond, Houzz has been missing notifications for me again. I got cecily's this morning but not the two posts before that.

Function, it's bad enough when the geese leave presents all over grass, but there is a paved road around part of the local pond for walkers and bicycles and they make a mess on that as well. It's too bad they couldn't learn to go behind a bush or something. [g]

stillinWisconsin - I agree with you that your birds with babies need your water source and not be disrupted at this point.

Thanks cecily for that update. Very happy to hear it is improving.

I refilled two of my 5 birdbaths after scrubbing them out, but after 3 days not being filled most of the birds that were here left to find another consistent water supply. This has been the craziest summer....great, but crazy for us. We have had rain so much! We just had another downpour in the night and now the sun is out and a good breeze is blowing. I barely have had to water anything but some of the pots. I have two rainbarrels that are full for the past month barely used.

I just wanted to update. I just saw a video on Facebook from Birds Unlimited - a supplier of bird supplies locally and he was reading a report from the authorities down in Virginia that is now seeing a drop from 17 bird deaths reported a day in the beginning of June, to only 2 in the last 2 weeks. The recommendation was that people can go back to feeding the birds and putting water out for them. There have been zero reports of bird deaths in New England.

There is some conjecture that they were having an invasion of Cicadas and were spraying pesticide for them, and that might be what happened to the birds. also the Cicadas cycle has ended and that might be why there is now such a reduction in deaths.

So, I'm going back to filling all my birdbaths...! 🙂

And now I've read another report, that they are seeing dead birds in CT. So, apparently it is an ongoing story.

You know, I get upset with all these recommendations by whom ever. The birds rely on us more and more because of habitat loss and habitat loss is because of us. I really begrudge them nothing. In my opinion they they are forced into the situations they are in. Pretty soon, there won't be any left, and then we all will be crying, "what happened to the birds?" Just like we are crying, "What happened to the polor bears or subtitute any other endangered species you like."

debra

Thats exactly what i tell everyone when they ask why i feed the squirrels and birds and wildlife in general!

they are slowly losing their habitat and that makes food sources harder to come by

Here is another report this morning that indicates that Cornell believes that the mystery bird illness in the South has been caused by ingesting Cicadas, which apparently they have had down there and we don't have here. If that is the case, then it has nothing to do with anything contagious.

Cornell, believes mystery bird illness if related to cicada ingestion.

The biggest threat to squirrels, birds, and other small native wildlife in my area is stray and semi-stray cats that people feed and water but let roam freely. They are an invasive scourge on the land, killing for sport.

We have no cats in our neighborhood. I'm sure there are cats but they are indoor cats. I've seen one black cat go through the yard at night and that's it.

Actually the largest killers of birds is not cats, but building window strikes and poisoning. Yes, cats do kill birds, but only a fraction of what buildings do. Keep putting in the massive windows in homes, but blame something else.

I put my feeders back up yesterday.

I appreciate those tips!

I must take issue with Tiffany’s comments. Outdoor cats are not a scourge on the land. They are outdoors because WE put them out there. Why do they get put out? Let me count the ways:

1. WE are too lazy to care for them after we get them. Food, vet bills, litter, toys, OUR attention…….WE decide it’s all too much. WE are too lazy to even surrender them to a rescue…….omg, the gas for driving them there! So WE just put them out.

2. WE don’t take the time or spend the money to get their them their vaccinations AND most importantly, WE DON’T SPAY OR NEUTER THEM. WE DON’t want to spend the money or some men have sick notions about removing the testicles from a male cat or dog btw, because they personalize it.(of course neutered male cats and dogs will live longer healthier lives because they don’t roam or fight as much AND they have a lower occurrance of testicular cancer which of course they DIE from). Or without proper vaccinations, they get sick and often get disposed of. I don’t mean creamated, I mean thrown in a dumpster to die.

3. So when unspayed female cat sneaks out of the house or WE let her out for a few hours so she can experience her wild nature……..then WE get surprised that she is PG and WE don’t want kitties…….again, instead of taking her to a rescue, WE open the door and let her go…….forever. She can fend for herself, right? WRONG! Indoor domesticated cats have been fed by US so when put out, they must revert to a somewhat wild state to survive, if they do.

4. As a result of number 3, all the kitties are born outside and then they know nothing except what their mother teaches them. If you knew anything about cats, you would understand that cats do not kill for sport, but out of hunger. What looks like playing with their food is actually killing the prey. Pouncing, shaking throwing it the air is all about subduing prey so they are then ableto eat it. This is also how an outdoor mother teaches her kittens to hunt so they can survive outdoors. Birds are a minor part of their diet. They kill far more mice and rats than birds.

Really I could go on and on about why there are free roaming cats, but I agree with functionthenlook. Tall buildings with nighttime lights and habitat loss are the top killers of birds.

Now if you want to help cut down on the free roaming cat issue in your area, you can do Trap-Neuter-Return. TNR is the only effective and humane way of reducing the free roaming cat population. I have done it in my neighborhood for years. By neutering cats, you stop the reproduction cycle. Many cities have ordinances to pay for the services. Some vets are willing to offer services for free or a nominal feewe. Over time, numbers reduce. Here’s where you can learn more if you want to help rather than complain and make opinionated remarks.

Best friends animal society , one of the best organizations in the country working round the clock to end all unnecessary killings by 2025. Also on the front lines when disaster hits and animals are involved. Think Hurricane Katrina.

Alley cat allies

Faunalytics

Fix Nation

Indy Feral

and many, many others if you look.

debra

P.S. there is an excellent online blog ”Vox Felina”, ”Voice of the Cat” written by Peter Wolf. He is an expert in community cat issues. He has references for each and everything he talks about in the blog. An excellent source for learning about the mis-information and myths reported by so called experts. Btw, he led the community cat program at Best Friends for years. He spends his time now teaching, writing and speaking on the issues of Community cats. I was lucky enough to have lunch with him on a trip to Best Friends Sanctuary in Utah. He’s a delightful and passionate man when it comes to cats.

debra

Excellent description of why and how there are cats roaming around. I didn't do any of those things. A sad situation for the cats & the indigenous wildlife.