This is Bird Note.

Here's that.

It's the chatter of hungry pine siscans out of thistle feeder.

Putting out a feeder is easy.

The next step may be a challenge, but it's the most important part, keeping it clean and free of disease.

A clean feeder is a life and death matter to some birds.

Pine siscans, in particular, are prone to salmonellosis, a deadly bacterial disease easily transmitted from birds to birds.

For this reason, a thistle feeder shouldn't have a tray.

Clean your feeder at least once a week, more often if you have lots of birds eating from it.

You may want to have an extra feeder, one feeds the birds while the other is being cleaned and dried.

Also, take time to rake up and dispose of seeds underneath the feeder every few days.

Birds are fuzzy.

This bird wants sunflower seeds and another bird wants millet.

They'll simply toss any seeds they don't like.

What a waste!

You can attract specific birds and minimize the waste by choosing the right food and the right feeder.

Learn what foods attract what birds and especially how to protect those birds when they visit at our website, birdnote.org.

I'm Mary McCann.