# Is something afflicting our wildbirds? What could it be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-afflicting-our-wildbirds-what-could-it-be/544880 "2010-06-29T02:26:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-afflicting-our-wildbirds-what-could-it-be/544880/1 "2010-06-29T02:26:05Z")
Hmm. About 6-8 weeks ago, my husband found a mourning dove in the back yard. The bird was obviously very ill–he was resting on the ground, fluffed up, and closing his/her eyes. S/he had enough wherewithal to attempt to fly from us, but all they could manage was to move up about 6-12" and then about 5-10’ away from us, at the most. Usually it was more like a foot or so. I put on a pair of latex gloves and moved the dove to a quiet, planted area, but not surprisingly, it was dead by morning. (Their poor mate was on the telephone wire hanging above the yard, watching and waiting.) This is unusual, but hey, birds get sick. I was bound to come across an ill one sooner or later. The odd thing is, tonight, a male purple finch was in our backyard exhibiting identical symptoms. My husband initially thought the bird was injured, but I watched it closely for a while, and it behaved like the dove–it would flutter and fumble a few inches along the ground, occasionally managing a few feet of flight. Left alone, he fluffed himself up and tucked his beak under a wing…poor little dude was definitely not well. Neither bird had any obvious wounds, so I’m assuming they were both ill, not injured. Is this a sign of some sort of avian illness that might be affecting our local species? (I’m in southern California, just east of Pasadena.) West Nile, from what I understand, affects more bluebirds and crows than these species, but wildlife study is a hobby and not a profession for me, so others I’m sure know far better. I know when West Nile essentially erased the crow population around here a few years ago, local animal control wanted us to report any ill birds. I’m wondering if I should do the same here, or just mark it up to the unusual happening unusually close together. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-afflicting-our-wildbirds-what-could-it-be/544880/2 "2010-06-29T02:51:48Z")
[West Nile Virus Activity in California](http://www.westnile.ca.gov/) > [@](#): > > dead birds > YTD: 27 Counties: 8 > There were 3 new WNV positive dead birds reported in California last week from the following counties: Madera (1), Sacramento (1), and Santa Clara (1). This is the first indication of WNV from Sacramento County this year. [More info] > 27 dead birds from 8 counties have tested positive for WNV in 2010. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-afflicting-our-wildbirds-what-could-it-be/544880/3 "2010-06-29T04:41:20Z")
Thanks for the link. I reported both the finch and the mourning dove via their “report a sick/dead bird” link. Still wondering what type of avian illness causes such symptoms, or what this may be. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-afflicting-our-wildbirds-what-could-it-be/544880/4 "2010-06-29T04:56:39Z")
> [@Ruffian](#): > > Thanks for the link. I reported both the finch and the mourning dove via their “report a sick/dead bird” link. > > Still wondering what type of avian illness causes such symptoms, or what this may be. Weird. Anything and everything can cause those symptoms. Those are generic sick bird signs. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-afflicting-our-wildbirds-what-could-it-be/544880/5 "2010-06-29T10:37:10Z")
And, I must add, by the time the bird starts showing those signs it is almost certainly terminal. They generally hide illness as long as they can. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-something-afflicting-our-wildbirds-what-could-it-be/544880/6 "2010-06-29T15:53:43Z")
Wow, I’m actually impressed by a state department. I received a call at 8:15am this morning regarding the online report I made at the link **Squink** provided. If I can find the finch (doubtful with all the neighborhood cats) and it has died as I expect, they’d like me to use latex gloves and put it in a Ziploc bag so it doesn’t decompose. Then I’m to call them, give them the report number, and they’ll pick it up. So, if this happens again, I know what to do. They don’t pick up sick birds, but as **Broomstick** mentioned, birds exhibiting this behavior aren’t long for the world so we can isolate the bird then call up the state department once they pass. **Wile E** , yeah, it is pretty generic sick bird signs, huh. I suppose I was hoping someone knew something about avian viruses in the area. I dunno. The year of West Nile was a trip–you couldn’t walk half a block without seeing a dead bird. I went on a trail ride that summer, and it was like the trail was lined with crow and bluebird corpses.