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I’m trying to convince my girlfriend to stop having us fill the birdfeeders. She loves #birds , and they are an important source of joy for her in this increasingly impossible-to-live-in country. That said, we are facing a very real possibility of a human to human spreading global flu pandemic that could kill 5%-10% of the population with obvious ripple effects stemming from that. She has gotten very angry at me when I have suggested to hold off on refilling the birdfeeders. Please advise.
I just want to thank everyone for the extremely helpful and sincere responses. I have some ideas that I think might work going forward based on these replies.  For the immediate future I will continue to treat the feeders and the ground around them as a biohazard area until I can find an alternative in the next few weeks. We have cats, so my main concern is keeping them safe.
@TransitBiker is bird flu present in your area? "Audubon generally advises removing feeders if at least one local wildlife agency calls for it and regularly cleaning any bird feeders or baths in use. Also important: Don’t touch live or dead birds."
https://www.audubon.org/magazine/spring-2023/the-bird-flu-blazes-amping-concerns-wildlife-and
@TransitBiker Do you have backyard chickens? "there is currently a low risk of an outbreak among wild songbirds, and no official recommendation to take down feeders unless you also keep domestic poultry."
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/avian-influenza-outbreak-should-you-take-down-your-bird-feeders/
@evan no domestic birds.
@TransitBiker so, maybe make sure to clean your feeders with bleach, and stay up to date with announcements from the local wildlife agency?
@TransitBiker SciShow just put out a video about this. But if they really like birds, frame it in a way that emphasizes that birds are getting sick from interacting with other sick birds, and bird feeders are a breeding ground for those germs to spread. (If you haven’t seen the SciShow video: https://youtu.be/5CyVi4UzKxE?si=jPBNvsVEiEHMYicK)
@finding_sunshine yeah I’ve seen it and it looks like they wrapped production in December and for some reason it’s only being published recently. Obviously, we’ve had some concerning developments since then. This is part of what prompted me to figure out what to do.
@TransitBiker
No advise, but you have my sympathy. That is not a fun situation at all.
Also, given the dark days ahead for the US economy what with the troglodytes on pcp smashing through the departments of the federal government, being harshly frugal would seem a very good thing right now.
@TransitBiker possibly switch to compostable bird feeders so you never have to touch it? Like seeds stuck to an egg carton with peanut butter or something?
@InfoDumpTruck that sounds really cool. I’ll look for a type of compostable seed thing that I can just toss from a safe distance. The feeder is also near a garden box, but we don’t use it anymore so I could toss it in there potentially. Thank you for the amazing idea!
@TransitBiker glad that helps!
@TransitBiker Oh yes, I used to feed the little quail around here. Stopped that. I don't want to kill my cats. Or me.