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Microbial Communities in Hummingbird Feeders Are Distinct from Floral Nectar and Influenced by Bird Visitation

Posted by Douglas Everett on

A big title for a research paper but essentially it is " Most microbes in hummingbird feeders do not pose health hazard"https://phys.org/news/2019-03-microbes- ... ealth.htmlIt basically says: "They also found that birds, feeder sugar-water, and flowers hosted distinct bacterial and fungal communities" and "However, a tiny fraction of those microbes has been associated with disease, so we encourage everyone who provides feeders for hummingbirds to clean their feeders on a regular basis and to avoid cleaning feeders in areas where human food is prepared."

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