Do bird feeders attract ticks?

The short answer

• A little, and only in the patch under the feeder. A Massachusetts study dragged for ticks 38 times over two years and found 10 under nine feeders against 2 at control spots 6 m away.
• Not across the yard. A New York study found no difference in tick density or in the share of ticks carrying Lyme bacteria between properties with and without feeders, and 580 residents' answers showed no link between feeders and Lyme disease.
• The route in is the ground: mice eating the spill, and ground-feeding birds such as robins and grackles picking up young ticks on the lawn in summer. Adult blacklegged ticks do not feed on birds at all.
• Feed in fall and winter, when the young ticks are not on birds and there are no ticks on mice. That is the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station's own advice.
• Keep the feeder in open, sunny lawn, away from the woods edge and from where people sit or play, and keep the ground under it clear of seed.

A little, and only on the patch of ground under the feeder. In the one study that sampled there, researchers in Massachusetts found 10 blacklegged ticks under nine feeders and 2 at spots 6 m away, over two years of sampling. In the study that compared whole properties, in New York, yards with feeders had no more ticks, no more infected ticks and no more Lyme disease than yards without. The feeder does not bring ticks into the yard. In summer, it can gather the animals that carry them onto one spot of lawn.

Two answers circulate. One says feeders are a tick magnet and should come down. The other says birds eat ticks, so feeders help. The first takes a small, real effect under the feeder and applies it to the whole yard. The second has no good evidence behind it, as the Connecticut tick handbook puts it. Below is what each study measured and what it means for when and where you feed.

What the two studies measured#

They do not contradict each other. Our reading: they measured at different scales. Massachusetts asked where on one lawn the ticks sat, and found them bunched under the feeders, at 0.0091 per square meter against 0.0018. That is about five times the density, but it is still about one tick per 110 square meters of cloth dragged. New York asked whether a feeder changes the property, and the answer was no.

Two more details matter. Seven of the ten Massachusetts ticks were larvae, collected while still hunting for a host. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) tick handbook says larvae pick up the Lyme bacterium by feeding on infected animals, so those seven had not yet had the meal that infects them. And neither study tested a feeder at the woods edge, where most ticks live.

How a tick gets to the feeder#

Ticks do not come for seed. They arrive on animals, and two kinds work the ground under a feeder.

Mice. The CAES handbook calls the white-footed mouse generally the most abundant and efficient reservoir of the Lyme bacterium. Over 90% of white-footed mice are infected in many areas, and one mouse was estimated to infect as many ticks as 12 chipmunks or 221 voles. Mice eat seeds, and the handbook warns that spilled bird feed can attract them. Squirrels, by contrast, have a lower reservoir potential, so the gray squirrels on your pole are a poor source of infected ticks by comparison. The mice and chipmunks working the spill at dusk are the ones to deny. The full ground routine is on our rats and mice page.

Ground-feeding birds. In a Connecticut woodland study cited by CAES, 26% of 5,297 birds carried ticks, and 94% of those ticks were blacklegged ticks. On Fire Island, NY, the birds that picked up ticks fastest were ground foragers, and aerial foragers picked up none. In a Westchester County, NY neighborhood, the American robin carried 72.7% of the larval ticks found on birds, the common grackle 8.2% and the house wren 5.9%. In August, when larvae peak, 39% of robins and 70% of grackles were seen on lawns. The authors call them probable contributors to the nymphs found on lawns.

Robins, grackles and the Carolina wren are also on the CAES list of birds that can pass the Lyme bacterium to a feeding tick. The gray catbird and wood thrush are not.

In our dataset, 11 of 34 feeder species rate a 4 for feeding on the ground, among them the eastern towhee, mourning dove and dark-eyed junco. A tray at grass level or seed scattered on the lawn puts these birds where summer ticks wait. The chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and goldfinches that work a hanging tube all rate a 1: they rarely feed on the ground.

Deer. CAES says over 90% of adult blacklegged ticks feed on deer, and each female lays about 3,000 eggs. Deer do not infect ticks, but they carry egg-laying females into the yard. A feeder deer can reach is a tick problem as well as a seed problem: see deer at feeders.

The season decides most of it#

Blacklegged ticks in the Northeast run on a two-year cycle, and birds only ever carry the young stages. Here is the CAES timing set beside what is on a feeder bird.

CAES puts it in one line: set up feeders "in fall and winter when natural foods are scarce (and the immature stages of I. scapularis are not present on birds)." It also offers a reason the New York study found no effect: birds at feeders in summer may simply spend less time on the ground.

So a winter feeder is outside the cycle. A summer feeder is not dangerous, but it is the one to manage. If you feed through summer, as our summer feeding page covers, give up the ground feeder and loose seed on the grass from May to September. Switch to sunflower hearts, which drop no shells, and cut the rest of the spill with the steps in seed waste and mess.

Where to put the feeder in tick country#

CAES sampled yards and found ticks 67% in the woods, 22% in the unmowed edge, 9% in ornamental plantings and 2% in lawn. Within the lawn, 82% sat within 3 yards of the perimeter, along woods, stone walls or plantings. The California Department of Public Health says the same of the West: ticks are usually not found on open, sunny, mowed lawns.

That gives a placement rule:

1. In the open lawn, in sun. Our working rule: at least 3 yards in from the lawn's edge, and farther from woods than from shrubs. This sits a little against the usual advice to feed beside cover. Plant that cover as shrubs within a short flight, as native plants and cover describes, rather than hanging the feeder in the woods.
2. Away from people. Both CAES and California say keep feeders away from the house or from where people spend time. CAES adds that it is unknown whether this lowers tick exposure. Keep swings and patio chairs out of the drop zone anyway.
3. No woodpile or stone wall beside it. CAES names both as mouse nesting sites. A feeder next to one feeds the mice that live in it.
4. A barrier at the woods. CAES and California both recommend a 3 ft or wider strip of wood chips or gravel between lawn and woods.
5. Do not overfill. California's words: "the extra food may attract rodents and other animals."

All of this goes on top of normal placement for window safety and hawks, covered in where to put a bird feeder.

Birds, opossums and other tick control that is not#

CAES calls reports that guinea fowl or chickens reduce ticks anecdotal, with "no good evidence" to support them, and says turkey foraging was not found to reduce adult tick numbers. The claim that opossums eat thousands of ticks fares no better: our page traces it to a laboratory study and a carcass survey that found no tick parts. Feed birds because you want birds, not as tick control.

Lone star ticks#

The lone star tick is a different case. CAES says its larvae feed on many bird species, while rodents do not appear to be important hosts for its young stages. Nymphs are active from April through midsummer and larvae in late summer and early fall. Our reading: the same winter-feeding logic holds, since neither young stage is out in winter. This tick also carries the cat parasite covered on our bobcats page.

Where this page stops#

• Two field studies, both in the Northeast. No one has tested a feeder at the woods edge, or measured nymphs carrying Lyme bacteria under a feeder.
• Timing is northeastern. In California, the state says nymphs peak in late spring to early summer and adults in late fall and winter. Southern ticks run on other calendars.
• Placement distances are ours. The 3 yard figure comes from where CAES found lawn ticks, not from a feeder trial.
• This is not medical advice. For tick checks, repellents and what to do after a bite, follow your state health department.

Pausing a summer feeder costs the birds little, as do birds depend on feeders explains. Every other feeder problem is matched to its cause on the problems hub.

Frequently asked questions#

Do birds bring ticks into my yard?

Some do, in summer. Young blacklegged ticks feed on birds, mostly on species that forage on the ground. In a Westchester County, NY neighborhood, American robins carried 72.7% of the larval ticks found on birds, and in August 39% of robins and 70% of common grackles were seen on lawns. Adult ticks, the stage active in fall, winter and early spring, do not feed on birds, so winter feeder birds are not carrying blacklegged ticks.

Should I take my bird feeder down because of Lyme disease?

Not for the feeder alone. The study that compared whole properties found no difference in ticks or infected ticks with and without feeders, and no link to Lyme disease among 580 residents. What is worth changing is the season and the ground: feed from fall to early spring, keep the area under the feeder free of seed in summer, and keep the feeder away from the woods edge and from where children play.

Do birds eat ticks?

Not enough to count on. The Connecticut tick handbook calls reports that guinea fowl or chickens reduce ticks anecdotal and says there is no good evidence for them, and adds that wild turkey foraging was not found to reduce adult tick numbers. Feeding birds to control ticks does not work, and the same is true of the popular claim about opossums.

Are ticks a problem at bird feeders in the West?

In California, mainly next to wild land. The California Department of Public Health says people most often find ticks while hiking, and that some people find them in their own backyard, especially in northern coastal counties and the Sierra Nevada foothills, next to forest and grassland. Its advice is the same as the East's: do not overfill feeders, since extra food may attract rodents, and keep them away from where people spend time. Nymphs there are most active from late spring to early summer.

Sources and further reading

1. Bird Feeders and the Spatial Distribution of Ticks on a Residential Lawn in Worcester County, Massachusetts. Northeastern Naturalist 15(3):469-472 (2008) Jason P. Kowalczyk and Todd L. Smith, via Eagle Hill Institute 0.5 ha property in Mendon, MA; nine feeders, controls 6 m away; 38 drag samples 8 Aug 2005 to 25 Jul 2007; 10 ticks under feeders (7 larvae, 3 nymphs) vs 2 larvae at controls; 0.0091 vs 0.0018 per square meter; 6 of 9 feeders vs 2 of 9 controls produced ticks; P = 0.035; I. scapularis only
2. The effects of bird feeders on Lyme disease prevalence and density of Ixodes scapularis in a residential area of Dutchess County, New York. J Med Entomol 40(4):540-546 (2003) Andrea K. Townsend, Richard S. Ostfeld and Kathleen B. Geher, abstract via PubMed 14680124 2001 to 2002; tick density and infection prevalence not significantly different with and without feeders; 580-resident questionnaire found no association with Lyme disease; feeders should not be considered a risk factor in this setting
3. Tick Management Handbook, revised edition, Bulletin No. 1010 (2007) Kirby C. Stafford III, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Tick life cycle and timing; tick distribution by yard zone; 82% of lawn ticks within 3 yards of the edge; white-footed mouse as main reservoir; birds and ticks; adults do not feed on birds; feeder advice: away from the house, clean up spill, feed in fall and winter; no good evidence birds control ticks; lone star tick hosts
4. Relative importance of bird species as hosts for immature Ixodes dammini in a suburban residential landscape of southern New York State. J Med Entomol 30(4):740-747 (1993) Gregory R. Battaly and Durland Fish, abstract via PubMed 8360897 Westchester County; 36 species, 416 captures, 25 species with ticks; robin 72.7% of larval ticks on birds, grackle 8.2%, house wren 5.9%; in August 39% of robins and 70% of grackles on lawns
5. Highly variable acquisition rates of Ixodes scapularis by birds on an Atlantic barrier island. J Med Entomol 47(6):1019-1027 (2010) S. S. Mitra, P. A. Buckley, F. G. Buckley and H. Ginsberg, via USGS Fire Island, NY; ground-foraging species had the highest tick acquisition rates; aerial foragers acquired none; eight species at least 0.8 ticks per bird per day at the seasonal peak
6. Controlling Ticks Around Your Home (April 2021) California Department of Public Health, Vector-Borne Disease Section Ticks usually not found on mowed lawns; 3 ft gravel or wood chip border; do not overfill bird feeders; keep feeders away from where people spend time; western blacklegged tick nymphs late spring to early summer, adults late fall and winter