I was probably 15 years old. My family lived in a rundown house in Salt Lake City, where every home has a screen door.
It was a bright sunny day, and I was standing in our living room with the front door wide open and the screen door closed. Did I mention our screen door was missing the screen on the upper half?
Somehow the bird knew it. It was an LBB (“little brown bird”), meaning I have no idea what kind of bird it was. It happened in a flash. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. The LBB shot through the screen door, wings flapping, chest heaving as it struggled under a mighty load.
I stood frozen as he flew right towards me. At the last second, he banked hard to his left and completed a 180-degree arc right in front of me. And then just as quickly, he was back out the screen door and gone forever. But his delivery was not.
As he banked in front of me, he dropped his load. A huge bird poop hit me square in the chest with a squishy wet sound. That’s right – a little bird flew into my house, pooped on me, and left. It was a masterful performance. I’m sure I heard a high-pitched laugh as he disappeared out the screen door.
Looking back years, I often wonder what that bird was doing around our front door. Typically birds are attracted to the fronts or backs of our homes by bird feeders, which we didn’t have at our home in Salt Lake City.
But we have many on the island, and bird feeders must be used responsibly. One of the first rules of bird feeder use is to put the feeders far away from your windows and doors so that, when they get spooked, birds at the feeders don’t crash into your windows or fly through your broken screen door and poop on you.
The most important rule when it comes to bird feeders, however, is that they and the ground under them must be cleaned regularly, especially in the late fall, winter and early spring when it is so wet here.
Last month we were made aware of 20-plus pine siskins that died from salmonella in one yard in Port Madison. The birds died because the feeder, and the ground under it, was not being properly cleaned.
Bird feeders and baths should be cleaned and disinfected every two weeks. Take your feeder apart and wash it thoroughly using a brush to get into the grimy little corners. Soak them in a 10 percent bleach solution for 20 minutes. Rinse it thoroughly three times and allow the parts to dry completely. Reassemble and fill the feeder when it is bone dry.
Between cleanings, you might try spraying all surface areas on problem feeders with pure alcohol. It evaporates quickly and kills surface bacteria.
Use small feeders that come apart quickly and fit in your kitchen sink easily. Buy low-cost feeders made of recyclable materials that are easy to clean and disinfect. Wooden feeders are very hard to totally disinfect.
Possibly of most importance, keep seed from building up on the ground under bird feeders. The seed that falls on the ground is what’s most likely to get wet, grow salmonella, and kill birds when it’s eaten. Store seeds in a dry area so the seeds don’t become moldy.
Finally, you should keep an eye on the birds using your feeders and see if they look sick. Signs of salmonellosis in birds range from sudden death to gradual onset of depression over one to three days. Commonly reported signs include ruffled feathers, droopiness, diarrhea and severe lethargy.
Having a bird feeder and developing a relationship with the birds in your yard can be a wonderful experience for your family and the birds. However, we need to be responsible and make sure we are not accidentally creating death traps for LBBs and other birds.
Because Salt Lake City is so dry, the LBB that completed his bombing mission on my chest when I was 15 probably never encountered salmonella. I still wonder what I did to deserve his attention.
Kol Medina is executive director of the West Sound Wildlife Shelter.
