'More harm than good': People advised not to feed birds as disease causing starvation spreads
Birdwatch Ireland issued the advise after a number of finches were affected
People across Ireland are being encouraged not to feed garden birds this summer as there is a threat of disease spreading.
The advice was issued by Birdwatch Ireland after a number of finches were found to have trichomoniasis.
The disease has had a serious impact on the country's finch family and is spread through garden bird feeders.
"We know that garden feeders now are a vector for this, particularly during the warmer months of the year, which allows this disease to survive and thrive and pass the infection on," Niall Hatch of Birdwatch Ireland told RTÉ's Ireland AM.
The disease spreads through birds' saliva, causing the food in feeders to be contaminated.
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He added that until now, feeding birds in the garden was okay, but between May and October, it does "more harm than good."
In the past 20 years, there has been an increase in the disease, possibly due to a new strain emerging.
This has caused the number of finches, including greenfinches and chaffinches, in Ireland to have plummeted.
It causes the throats of the birds to swell, meaning they cannot swallow and they starve to death.
There is no cure for the disease once caught.
Niall added that the disease is separate from bird flu and can not be passed on to humans or other mammals.