![]() The illness spreads more quickly at feeders where lots of birds gather in close contact.Ĭontact Joan Morris at Follow her at /AskJoanMorris. You’ll want to keep your feeders down for a couple of weeks. You’ll also need to clean up beneath the feeder to get rid of the feces. ![]() The bacteria is passed through feces, so it’s important to take down, empty and clean your feeders with a weak solution of bleach or vinegar. Pine siskins seem particularly susceptible to the bacteria, but it can sicken and kill other finches and other species of birds. Because you found the dead birds on the feeders, the likely cause is salmonella. The birds’ breast muscles felt slightly less than full but far short of being emaciated.Ĭould our recent cold spell have been the major factor in their deaths?ĭEAR DAVID: It has been cold, but I don’t believe cold enough to cause the deaths. I inspected the seeds (mixed chipped and whole sunflower) they were dry and without mold. ![]() Until then, you’ve got a fascinating story and photos to back it up.ĭEAR JOAN: I was saddened over the weekend to find a dead pine siskin in the bottom of my bird feeder and two more lying dead in a feeder at my girlfriend’s house.īecause these feeders are more than 3 miles away from each other, I doubt there was a local cause. The good news is that the squirrel appears healthy and the tail shows no damage from the dye job. I think it’s likely your squirrel has had a similar run in with berries or some other naturally or unnaturally tinted water. The berries had colored the water, which then colored the squirrel. Although no one figured out how the mysterious purple squirrel became purple, one blue-tailed squirrel was discovered to have dipped its tail in some water that was infused with blueberries. I’ve found a few reports of squirrels with blue tails and one completely purple squirrel.
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