Songbirds are dying. Should you pull your bird feeder down? FacebookTwitterEmail Pine siskins face a deadly dilemma in the San Antonio area this spring. The small songbirds with muted brown and yellow plumage are taking the brunt of a spike in salmonellosis, an infection caused by the salmonella bacteria. Local residents have found dead pine siskins and other finches near their bird feeders. Wildlife experts recommend cleaning feeders regularly — or pulling them down entirely — to prevent the spread of the disease. But those same feeders are seeing more hungry migratory birds than ever after a winter freeze that decimated Texas plants.