The house finches are on the second fledge, so they are still breeding in spite of the symptoms- but the birds seem miserable. Not only are most of the birds nearly blind in at least one eye, but their motor skills seem affected. They sit for too long on the perch after being disturbed, and are not responding to pecks or aggression from healthier birds or birds of other species. The Cornell website indicates that " …feeding birds may not necessarily increase the rate of disease spread" but I am worried about the disease spreading to our native goldfinches.
Are other Southern birders still feeding through the summer or do you feed only in winter?
We had a breeding pair on a porch post this spring, which produced two clutches (litters? Whatever). I did not notice anything strange in their behaviour.
Good. I am glad it hasn’t reached you- though I’m not sure if that means your birds are immune or haven’t been exposed.
Have you seen any migration yet? My swallows are beginning to leave and it is a few weeks early for my area. (On North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia triangle)
It’s a strange year all around. It’s been chilly enough here that I’m wearing pants (I’m Canadian and pooh-pooh the Maryland definition of cold); it’s certainly very early for that, and for the leaves to be turning.
I saw it five years ago in house finches and goldfinches here in NC when I worked in a wildlife shelter. It’s very heartbreaking, the poor birds can’t see, and with birds, that’s everything. We’d have to syringe feed them, which is hard on the birds. At first, we’d isolate and treat it with antibiotic ointment swabbed onto their eyes, but it didn’t do much good. Our wildlife veterinarian, also an epidemiologist, decided to euthanize infected birds rather than release them, always a painful decision.
Here’s a bit more info from the rehab perspective; you can do a search on those parameters to find more info.
One thing you can do, especially with multiple port vertical feeders, is to scrub and use a dilute bleach solution to thoroughly clean the feeders as often as possible to avoid spreading the disease.
I have been bleaching my feeders weekly since mid-summer but I am probably going to pull the feeders altogether. I am concerned about contamination of the large amounts of seed they clumsily drop. Not much chance of a goldfinch picking up seed on the ground- but more house finches, blue jays, cardinals, and flickers are all over it.
Watching them suffer and struggle is heartwrenching. But how in the world are they still multiplying at such a rate? Each pair is feeding 4-5 birds as usual.
elelle , I was certified to rehabilitate wildlife in Virgina years ago, but stopped accepting animals after getting 2-3 Canadian geese per week. I am not sure what logic helps a hunter bag a deer but stops him from euthanizing the one-legged goose in a flock of ten thousand. Trying to rehab the few animals which will regain independence while caring for many which will require lifelong care is frustrating, isn’t it?
I don’t know how to truly avoid spreading the disease, am a bit out of the loop, but, thanks to your thread, am up for getting up on current thought on it. Will do.
I hear you, Beaucarnea, on the Canada Goose thing. They are a heaping helping of PITA to deal with; mean, hissy, and stalwart in their own selves, yet, I admire them precisely because of that; they can coexist with humans, as coyotes, because they are able to thrive despite, well, in the midst of our human mess.
But, lifelong care…I am very against that with wild animals. Some can adapt, but it’s a terrifying experience for most.
I’d like to hear Colibri weigh in on Finch eye, with his expertise. Hope he sees this thread.
Wow, I had no idea. I basically stopped feeding because I got so busy and keep forgetting to refill the feeders. Haven’t seen anything funny with the finches, but then I mostly just see them at the feeder and the feeder hasn’t been full. Maybe I’ll pull the feeders and just wait for the goldfinches - then again, here at least we get the house kind all year round.