23/04/2026
Disease transmission at garden feeders is something we take genuinely seriously. These are birds we all care deeply about, enough to inspire us a decade ago to create Peckamix, and despite greenfinch numbers showing early signs of recovery over the last couple years, it's still something we should be extremely mindful of.
Having spent the last two weeks reading the latest scientific research papers on the trichomonosis parasite, including the RSPB's latest 234 page literature review, the evidence consistently points to hygiene, surface type and water management as the primary risk factors - not the food itself.
With this information, we've compiled our five most important tips for making your garden a safe place whilst continuing to feed the birds through their busiest time of year.
1. Manage your water sources carefully:
Water is one of the most significant transmission routes for trichomonosis. The parasite can survive in water for up to 30 hours, and sick birds spend more time at water sources, making bird baths a real risk point if they're not properly managed.
Clean water dishes and bird baths daily, they must be fully dry before refilling.
2. Ditch flat surfaces and bird tables:
Sick birds tend to be lethargic and linger on flat surfaces such as bird tables and feeder trays. When a sick bird sits in food or standing water, evidence shows they regurgitate food and water, significantly increasing the risk of transmission to healthy birds. Taking away those surfaces will make a huge difference in reducing the risk.
As an alternative, tube feeders keep food drier and are much easier to clean than most bird tables. If you feed ground-feeding birds like robins and blackbirds, scatter a small amount and rotate the spot daily rather than using a fixed tray.
3. Keep food dry:
The parasite responsible for trichomonosis can survive out of the body on moist bird food (up to 48 hours at 37°C in a lab), so keeping the food in your feeders as dry and cool as possible matters. A rain guard over your feeder makes a real difference in wet weather. Only put out as much food as birds will eat in a day, nothing should be sitting overnight getting damp.
4. Clean your feeders every week:
Wash feeders thoroughly with hot soapy water, then disinfect with a 10% bleach solution or a bird feeder disinfectant. Rinse well and crucially, allow them to dry completely before refilling. A damp feeder is a disease risk in itself. If you can keep a spare set of feeders to rotate while others dry, even better.
5. Spread your feeders out:
When birds are crowded onto too few feeders, contact rates go up and so does the risk of disease spreading between them. If you're seeing birds queueing or fighting over the only food source in the garden, adding more feeders and spreading them to different parts of the garden will help. A feeder pole comes in handy for this.
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The short version: keep feeding, keep cleaning, and think carefully about how you're presenting food. Responsible feeding is good for birds. The evidence backs that up.
For a deeper look at the research behind these tips, including what the science actually says about seasonal feeding, how to spot a sick bird so you can act quickly and why a husk-free seed with no fillers such as our No Mess Mix can make a difference, please read our full guide, a link is in the comments.
Thank you if you've made it this far!
Josh, Beth & the Peckamix team
