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That neighbor who told me to stop cleaning my feeder was right
My neighbor Carol kept telling me to stop scrubbing my tube feeder with soap and water every week. She said it was scaring off the finches because the smell lingers. I ignored her for 2 months until I noticed I went from 15 goldfinches to maybe 2. Finally I just rinsed with hot water and let it air dry, no soap. Now I'm back up to a dozen birds in 3 days. Anyone else had a feeder that got too clean and lost birds?
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sageburns1mo ago
Did you switch soap brands right before the birds dropped off, like a new scent or something?
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lindahunt1mo ago
Hmm, I actually see it a bit different, @sageburns. My soap has been the same for years - a plain unscented bar - and the birds were still coming around just fine until I moved the feeder 10 feet to a different tree branch. That seemed to rattle them more than ANY new scent ever could. I think sometimes we look for complex reasons when the simple answer is just a small change in their routine.
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paul_mason1217d ago
Yes, that's exactly what got me thinking too, @sageburns! I actually made the mistake of trying one of those fancy scented soaps right as I was refilling the bird bath and feeder area. The birds pretty much vanished overnight. I switched back to my old boring unscented bar and it still took them a good week to slowly come back. @lindahunt I totally agree with you about the feeder location thing being a big deal too. I had a friend who moved their feeder just 5 feet and the birds acted like it was a whole new dangerous planet or something. It's wild how sensitive they are to even the smallest things we wouldn't think twice about. So yeah, between the soap scent and the feeder spot, it's easy to overlook those little details.
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