Bird Feeders in Western Montana: Bears, Pests, Disease

What does Montana FWP say about feeders and bears?

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks lists bird feeders and bird seed alongside pet food and barbecues as bear attractants, and its guidance for people living in bear country is to avoid feeding birds during active bear season. It suggests bird houses, bird baths and native vegetation instead. The reason is on the same page: bears are curious and food driven, and securing attractants greatly reduces the chance of a conflict.

The Missoula and Bitterroot valleys back onto forest, and bears in yards are a familiar part of life here. A feeder full of sunflower seed is a dense, easy meal, and a bear that finds one learns to check houses for food. Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch makes the same point: even if a feeder could be made bear proof, which it calls unlikely, it is very dangerous for bears to associate homes with food.

When should feeders come down?

FWP's pages do not give a single calendar date, so we will not invent one. What FWP does publish is the denning pattern: in Montana, bears typically den for five to six months in winter, approximately November through March, and begin emerging from their dens in spring, typically March and April. Project FeederWatch's recommendation for areas with bears is no feeding except when bears are hibernating, and to consult local wildlife authorities on dates.

Put together, the conservative reading is that seed and suet feeders belong to the dead of winter and should come down before bears are moving in spring and stay down until they have denned in fall. Those dates shift with elevation, snowpack and the year, so if bears have been reported near you, ask your regional FWP office. If a bear has already visited a feeder, take it down and clean up the seed underneath the same day.

Which feeders draw pigeons, starlings and house sparrows?

Open, flat ones, and seed on the ground. Project FeederWatch notes that platform trays attract most feeder species and that doves and sparrows prefer large flat surfaces. Its advice for people overrun by starlings, pigeons, grackles or crows is to use feeders made for smaller birds, such as tube feeders with short perches and no catch basin, or feeders that close under the weight of a large bird or sit inside a wire cage only small birds can pass through, to avoid platform trays, and not to spread food on the ground.

For suet, it recommends cages that can only be reached from the bottom, which woodpeckers, nuthatches and chickadees can use by clinging upside down and starlings generally cannot. For seed, it notes that nyjer in a small-port feeder keeps seed off the ground and that cracked corn and millet scattered low are what bring doves and sparrows. The Montana Field Guide records that urban house sparrows eat commercial birdseed. And the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management, which lists removing bird feeders among its first recommendations for pigeon problems, describes pigeons as grain and seed eaters that subsist on spilled grain. Our guides to pigeons on buildings and house sparrows cover what happens when those birds settle in.

Does spilled seed bring rodents?

Yes. Project FeederWatch says plainly that bird food scattered on the ground can attract rodents, and recommends raking or sweeping under feeders regularly so that droppings and moldy or spoiled food do not accumulate. It also suggests wearing gloves when handling feeders and a mask when raking beneath them.

Less spill means less cleanup. FeederWatch notes that hulled sunflower, sold as no-mess seed, reduces the chaff under feeders, though it spoils faster and has to be kept dry. Store seed indoors in a sealed metal container. A bag of seed on a porch or in an open shed is an attractant for mice in winter and for bears the rest of the year, and FWP's advice for attractants generally is a hard-sided building with a securable door.

What is salmonellosis at feeders?

It is a bacterial disease and, according to Project FeederWatch, a common cause of death in feeder birds. FWP's wildlife disease page says outbreaks among songbirds are more common at feeders in late winter and early spring, that pine siskins and American goldfinches have been most commonly affected in the United States, and that crowding, feed contaminated with droppings and long stays at a feeder are what drive it. Sick birds look fluffed up and lethargic and are easy to approach.

FWP's instruction for an outbreak is specific: if a salmonella die-off has occurred at a feeder, remove feed for one month so birds stop concentrating at the site. Project FeederWatch advises taking feeders down for a couple of weeks whenever a sick bird appears. FWP also notes a household angle. The chance of people catching salmonella directly from wildlife is low, but domestic cats often become ill after eating infected birds, which raises the risk to their owners, so extra care with hygiene is warranted for anyone who maintains feeders.

Should feeders come down for avian influenza?

Not on that ground alone, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Its guidance says bird feeders are unlikely to result in increased spread of avian influenza, since the species that tend to come to feeders are not commonly infected. It adds that feeders do concentrate songbirds and increase transmission of other diseases, including salmonella, and that native vegetation is a healthier way to attract birds.

Montana FWP reports that highly pathogenic avian influenza has now been documented in wild birds across Montana, with deaths confirmed in species including geese, eagles, hawks, owls and ravens. Its precautions include wearing disposable gloves while cleaning bird feeders and washing hands immediately afterward, keeping dogs away from sick or dead birds, and avoiding contact with sick or dead wildlife. Unusual sickness or deaths in wild birds can be reported to the FWP Wildlife Health Lab at 406-577-7880 or 406-577-7882. If you keep backyard poultry, keep wild birds, their feed and their droppings away from your flock, and ask your veterinarian or the state about current precautions.

How often should feeders be cleaned?

More often than most people do. Project FeederWatch recommends cleaning seed and suet feeders every week or two, and more often in heavy use or wet weather: take the feeder apart, scrub off debris, wash with warm water and dish soap, rinse, and let it dry completely before refilling. To disinfect, it suggests soaking the cleaned parts for 10 minutes in diluted bleach, about one part bleach to nine parts water, then rinsing and drying.

FWP's salmonellosis guidance is similar in substance: disinfect feeders weekly with one part bleach to ten parts water, and remove wet or spilled seed.

Feeding birds without creating a problem

The pattern that works here is modest and seasonal. Feed in the denning months only. Use tube feeders with short perches and bottom-access suet cages, not trays. Offer seed the birds you want will finish, keep it off the ground, and rake underneath. Clean on a schedule, and take everything down for a few weeks at the first sick bird. The rest of the year, do what FWP suggests: water, nest boxes and native plants. Fruiting shrubs and seed-bearing perennials feed birds without concentrating them, and our landscaping design work can build them into a yard. Fruit trees attract bears as well, so FWP advises picking fruit as soon as it ripens.

Place feeders away from the house. A feeder hung from the eave puts droppings on the siding and brings sparrows and starlings within a few feet of every soffit gap and vent. For glass strikes near feeders, see birds hitting windows.

What if the feeder has already created a bird problem on the building?

Remove the food first. No barrier holds up well against birds that are being fed twenty feet away, and taking the feeder down for a season often shrinks a pigeon or sparrow problem by itself. Then deal with what the birds have already claimed: nests in vents and soffits, roosts on ledges and beams, and the droppings beneath them.

That second step is our bird mitigation service, and the options are compared in the best humane ways to deter birds. More guides for Missoula and Bitterroot properties are in the Montana Bird Control Guide.

Call HJ Property Care & Tree Service at (406) 215-7319 or request a bird assessment and we will identify the species, the access points, and what will actually stop them.

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