Birdhouse & Feeder Cleaner

This is the time of year to prepare your bird houses for their new occupants. We've found a valuable cleaning product that can help you with this chore—and keep your backyard songbirds healthy.

Songbird Essentials' Birdhouse &  Feeder Cleaner is a liquid that cleanses away parasites, bird droppings and organic contamination. It's important to keep houses free of fleas, mites, spiders and disease because they attack baby birds, robbing their bodies of natural nutrients and in some cases killing them outright.

The product is completely nontoxic. It's based on natural enzymes that kill deadly parasites and rid the houses of pests' eggs.

It's important to remember that songbirds will not use last year's nest, even if they were the ones that built it. They like to start afresh each year.

You have an easy task if the house was removed last fall. Merely spray a penetrating mist through the opening of the bird house. This will target any contaminants that accumulated over the winter. The pests will be gone because their eggs will be killed.

However, if the old nest wasn't removed last fall, sterner measures need to be taken. The  product label advises mixing 4 ounces of Birdhouse & Feeder Cleaner in 1 gallon of water. Add a tiny amount of dish soap to break the surface tension. Next, scrub the entire surface inside and out using the solution. Make sure you get into crevices because that's where contaminants hide. You don't need to rinse the solution.

Once the house dries, it is ready for its new occupants. The process is like putting on a fresh coat of paint when selling a new home—the more attractive you make it, the more likely someone will move in.

The Birdhouse & Feeder Cleaner works well on feeders, too. Feeders should be cleaned periodically during the year to keep contaminants from infecting birds. There is some scientific research that suggests that dirty feeders caused a decline in the population of House Finches because of conjunctivitis, a feeder-borne disease that ruins their eyesight.

You can clean bird feeders by removing any excess seed, old seed fragments and other contaminants. Spray the feeder using the product and then scrub (a long-handled brush, available at The Bird House, is ideal for tube feeders). Repeat the process until you're certain that the feeder is clean. Let the feeder dry thoroughly before adding new seed.

It's great fun watching songbirds in the backyard. But there's a responsibility that comes along with that. You wouldn't want to spread disease to the very birds you're trying to attract!