Finch w/ conjunctivitis or avian pox? (Warning-Graphic)

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Noah M
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Finch w/ conjunctivitis or avian pox? (Warning-Graphic)

Post by Noah M »

I got home today and saw this little bird on my feeder. I thought at first his feathers were a little ruffled, but then he turned his head and things got ugly. Like my stomach turned a bit when I saw this poor bird. Totally blind in the affected eye - it didn't even notice me approaching the window where we have our feeders.

I don't want the diesease spreading to any other birds. If its conjunctivitis I've read we should clean and disinfect our feeders and wait 2 weeks before putting them back out. What about if its pox? I may do that anyway - I don't want to see more of this. Anybody else see this and know what to do?

Cute Finch
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WHOA!!!
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soulsurvivor
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Re: Finch w/ conjunctivitis or avian pox? (Warning-Graphic)

Post by soulsurvivor »

Looks a bit extreme to be conjunctivitis. May be avian pox, but I'd think there would be more than one large lesion. It reminds me of the malignant tumors that guinea pigs get sometimes in old age. Pretty sad to see a wild animal afflicted like this. If you're concerned for the other birds, it definitely wouldn't hurt to bleach your feeders.

Have you thought about trying to net it, and call a wildlife rehabber? If it's beyond a cure, at least it could be humanely euthanized.

~Bree
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Antonsrkn
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Re: Finch w/ conjunctivitis or avian pox? (Warning-Graphic)

Post by Antonsrkn »

Oh wow thats extremely gruesome, never seen anything like it.
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Noah M
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Re: Finch w/ conjunctivitis or avian pox? (Warning-Graphic)

Post by Noah M »

We took down the feeders for 2 weeks, washed and bleached them and hung a hummingbird feeder in its place. We put the regular feeders back out alongside the hummingbird feeder and within 3 days a cardinal showed up with similar, but less severe, symptoms of the finch. So those feeders are down again, and I think we can put them back up today. I guess late summer and early fall is peak season for avian pox. So sad. But hummingbirds are adorable! I have a pics of them. Those are at home though I'll have to share them later.
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