Take down bird feeders this summer to cut spread of avian disease, says RSPB

The RSPB says bird lovers can continue to feed birds with seeds and feeders during winter, when trichomonosis is less easily spread. Photograph: Nigel Blake/PA

Garden birds should not be fed seeds and nuts over the summer months, the RSPB has said, in an attempt to reduce the spread of avian diseases.

Bird lovers are being urged to take down their bird feeders between May and October to help birds such as the greenfinch, whose numbers have plummeted after the spread of trichomonosis, a parasitic disease transmitted more easily when birds cluster around feeders in the warmer months.