Debris is seed crumbs and other waste that collects in the nooks and crannies of bird feeders. It harbors bacteria. Project FeederWatch did a blog post about this paper last year. You can see a summary of the research and what it says about cleaning your feeders here: https://feederwatch.org/blog/cleaning-preventing-disease/
Anne Marie Johnson On 10/13/2019 4:46 PM, Norwalk, James wrote: > I don't understand what the debris component is. > > ________________________________ > From: bounce-124015218-48869...@list.cornell.edu > <bounce-124015218-48869...@list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Alicia > <t...@ottcmail.com> > Sent: Sunday, October 13, 2019 4:20 PM > To: cayugabirds-l > Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Fwd: cleaning bird feeders > > This was on a different bird list, thought it might be of interest to Cayuga > birders. > > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > > The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 130(1):313-320, 2018 > The effectiveness of bird feeder cleaning methods with and without debris > > Lisa M. Feliciano,1 Todd J. Underwood,1* and Daniel F. Aruscavage1 > > ABSTRACT-Although feeders provide supplementary food to wild birds, they can > be a site of disease transmission. Periodic cleaning of bird feeders is > recommended to prevent disease transmission, but little is known about which > cleaning methods are most effective. We determined the effectiveness of 3 > cleaning methods (scrubbing with soap and water, bleach soak, and scrubbing > with soap and water followed by a bleach soak) in removing Salmonella from > feeders with debris from normal field use and without debris. Feeders were > inoculated with Salmonella enterica in the lab and then swabbed before and > after cleaning to determine the percent reduction of Salmonella colony > forming units (CFU/mL). All cleaning methods effectively reduced levels of > Salmonella on feeders without debris, but the presence of debris > significantly lowered the percent log reduction of Salmonella CFU/mL on > feeders. The bleach soak and the scrubbing with soap and water plus bleach > soak methods had a significantly higher percent reduction in Salmonella > CFU/mL than the scrubbing with soap and water method overall. A significant > interaction between debris and cleaning method was noted, however, indicating > that the presence of debris greatly lowered the percent reduction of > Salmonella CFU/mL on feeders cleaned with the scrubbing with soap and water > method compared to other methods. Overall, we recommend either scrubbing with > soap and water or a bleach soak to clean feeders with minimal debris, but > suggest a combination of these 2 cleaning methods if feeders have heavy > debris or if diseased birds are known to be in the area. > > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and > Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > Archives: > The Mail > Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! > -- > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
