The way I clean my bird feeder was scaring off the finches for months

I used to scrub my tube feeder with soap and hot water every time I refilled it. Turns out the soap residue was building up on the ports and making the seeds taste weird. I switched to just rinsing with a hose and scrubbing with a dry brush, and now the goldfinches don't hesitate to come back. Anyone else notice a change in bird behavior after switching cleaning methods?

2 comments

2 Comments

angela_dixon22d ago

Three weeks ago I noticed my chickadees stopped coming around completely after I bleached the feeder during a deep clean. Turns out the bleach smell sticks around way longer than you'd think even after rinsing. Did you try boiling water instead of chemicals, or did you just go straight to the hose method? I'm wondering if the goldfinches are more sensitive to smells than other birds or if they're just picky eaters. The house finches at my place didn't seem to care about soap residue at all.

bettyhunt22d ago

And @angela_dixon you're totally right about bleach, that stuff lingers forever. I went straight to the hose method and never looked back. Goldfinches are way pickier than house finches in my yard too, they'll straight up leave if anything smells off. Chickadees are weirdly tough though, mine will eat out of anything.