Farewell to my Greenfinch

This summer we saw a lot of Greenfinches in the garden, including young ones. The fledglings were gorgeous, and a delight to watch as they set their feet onto the peanut feeder for the first time.
Then a week or so ago, I spotted this one which seemed very lethargic when I came around the corner of the house.
The thought of another bout of Trichomoniasis in my birds made me shiver, because in 2007/2008 this horrible disease decimated the flock of House Sparrows.


The sight of this little Greenfinch in the birdbath did not cheer me up either. I had spotted it earlier underneath the feeder, pecking at the bits of nuts in my windowbox, and when it finally flew of, I took the camera to my workroom, from where I have a good view over the bath.





It did not look too puffed up, nor did it seem to have the swollen throat, as you'd see in birds suffering from Tricho. Something was definitely wrong though.
And although it was hardly moving, its insstinct to hide from me behind the little bee-house, made it more difficult for me to catch the poor thing.

Eventually, I was able to pick it up, but the poor bird had already died in my windowbox.







Some liquid in the feathers on the head seem to have dried up, which I think is something like blood, although I have not yet found any puncture wounds, but I will look for it in the morning. It is very mean that I myself had my cat re-adopted shortly after Francis died, because she had started to chase the birds. On my own I was unable to police her properly, so she had to go. in return what did I get in the garden?
A set of older kittens, from 2 houses down. A nextdoor neighbour with a cat, Lucy. She keeps me company from the gardenwall separating our gardens, during the night when I lie awake. wondering if the pain will ever go away, in return for a bit of sleep.

And to top it all off, a recent set of young kittens, eager to learn from the older set!
So I now have 5 cats in the garden!!! After I got rid of my own..

I myself am now thinking of getting an assistance dog, which can do amazing tasks as help for people with disabilities. Very much like a guard dog for the blind.
Hopefully I would then be able to teach it to leave the birds alone and scare the felines from my patch!
I will phone Fachtna, my vet tomorrow about my little Greenfinch. See what he thinks.

Worries about my Rooks.

Click on the photos for a better view.
This Rook, a juvenile still, has somehow broken the tip of its lower mandible. The upper mandible's tip has now grown downward. Over time the two mandibles will chafe away their original shape as has been happening already.




And here's another Rook, another juvenile unfortunately. He/she also broke the mandible. Very similar break to the first one. This one however looks to be in a worst state health-wise.
The school next door has been closed for many days over the last 2 weeks. This had a major impact on our Rooks, Jackdaws and Hooded Crows, which usual feed there during break times. Blackbirds and Song Thrushes took advantage of this by moving into the garden. The Corvids are back now with the school open today, but I have seen them that much recently. They still feed here, but it seems that the Thrushes have enough power to keep Corvids on the fence.
A full head of feathers like this one is what attracts me to the Rook. (and that cheeky character of course.)

Loss of feathers is apparent in this bird:
it could be suffering from that disease that usually hits Jackdaws. But as these feed togeter, it is very well possible that they got it too. With this cold spell, I assume that the Corvids are moving up and down the countryside in search of food, and we end up with birds other than the local flock.

Could featherloss be stress related?

Blue Tit, Parus caeruleus.
To make it clear to me that the suet 'shells are empty, one of my Blue Tits started scraping all the last bitds out.
Or would she be thinking of sailing? I am just hoping that the "worn" feathers above her right eye are not a sign of feather loss.

We have seen several birds go through a stage where they would start loosing feathers around the eye and then receding to the forehead. In the Jackdaws it was part of a disease which is restricted to that specie.
In 2008 however, I had a Robin which was starting to go bald. Again, it was early spring. At a certain moment, once the head had lost most of the feathers, it just disappeared.
It could very well be that it got the feathers back after an early moult. Not wanting to wait to autumn when most birds take time of after a stressful breeding time, and then just appeared as 'normal' Robin again.
And I can best well understand a bird as small as a Blue Tit, being stressed out after the harsh winter they've just had.
On the other hand, it could be more serious than stress. I will keep an eye on my Blue Tit. Problem is, I keep taking photos of the Blue Tits in my garden, but I can't seem to find it in my photos.

Anyway, here's some pictures of the Robin. It appeared on 8 March 2008:




Back to the garden in March 2010:

A cosy meeting between male and female, pity it is not the same specie.

male Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs
female House Sparrow. Passer domesticus



The Great, Parus major, and Blue Tit, P. caeruleus, also take time out to feed instead of fight.


And yes, my Collared Doves,Streptopelia decaocto, are reunited again! And as you can see, one of them is even giving us a "wink", telling us that it is OK again between them. I'm really happy about this because these are the only Doves around here. As far as I know.




Rook, Corvus frugilegus


And last but not least as it has an enormous voice!
Pied Wagtail, Motacilla alba.

Jackdaw disease claims two more victims.

A few months ago I reported on this sick Jackdaw.

It only reappeared once more, a day or two after I had posted it. Hopefully that it had not been able to infect any of its flock mates.
Somehow it did. Or at least, the disease has cropped up again. Currently I have one bird which has lost almost all its head feathers.

Another one has it too, though less profound: a small patch, yet the same symptom as the other two. And this one too, will have a very bare head soon.

It is really sad, because instead of simply enjoying to see them feed and hobble around, in front of my window, I find myself scrutinizing every Jackdaw head I see, in an effort to spot another bare patch. but why, I ask myself?
I cannot do anything about it, although I'd love to warm the sick birds, as they are hunched up even more, in their effort to save energy. Now do Jackdaws already have that typical "hunched" style, as soon as they land, rest or think of their next move.

Also, I worry about these poor birds. The suffering they are going through, of which we have no idea. We've had hail, heavy northern winds, days of rain lashing down, and low temperatures, for the time of year. Imagine the impact this will have on a bird which has a weakened immune system (I think) and which has trouble staying warm.
And all this is apart from all the energy it needs to find food. The energy it looses once in the air; being swept from one side to the other. And then top it all with the fact that your 'flock-mates don't want you around any more, and fight you off from the main feeding areas.
I think I need to think about something else if I want to get some sleep now.

How long will JJ stay unaffected? Or the busy parents, next door.

However, talking (healthy) Jackdaws, there is still one who has escaped the disease until now, as is as expressive as ever. So, I added some pictures of this proud bird. After all, it is almost 1 old!
Not only that, there is very active breeding going on next door, so soon we will post pictures of the new fledglings into the garden. I can hardly wait.

Jackdaw, Corvus monedula;
"Thought I heard something..."

"Or perhaps not?"

"Let's concentrate on the food first."

"Now, did I imagine this, again? Did you hear it too?"

What is wrong with my Jackdaw, part two.

Yesterday I posted pictures of my "red-eye/feathermite" Jackdaw. Wondering if he was suffering from an infection.
Today, however, when searching for the pictures on my laptop to send to Niall at Birdwatch, I spotted other ones I had taken at the same day of the other photos.

Jackdaw, Corvus monedula, on 12/04/09,at 10am



Same Jackdaw, on 12/04, at 6pm.

And a closer view of same eye:


So, apparently, whatever it is, which causes the loss of feathers, it is working quite rapid, when you look at not only the area around the eye, but also the forehead which shows this hard crust.
at the left side, as you can see here, the eye is clearly affected already but not as severe as on the right wing side.



Being social birds, Jackdaws like to mingle with other Corvae, and in my case this means with other Jackdaws and with Rooks and Hooded Crows. It could well be that this disease, infection, can spread to the other birds. It does not look like Trichomoniasis, to which Corvae seem to be susceptible also, just like Finches, and Sparrows.
Apart from good hygiene, there is little I can do, I think. I have not seen the bird since Sunday. However i am extra vigilant with the rest of the Jackdaws and the Rooks and the Hooded Crows, just in case this 'infection' spreads to any other member of the grey and blacks.
Also, I will send the relevant pictures to Niall at Birdwatch, to see what he makes of it.
I just hope that it is not contagious to my other birds.

Not one but two sick Jackdaws?

Yesterday I posted pictures of my "red-eye/feather-mite" Jackdaw. Wondering if he was suffering from an infection.
Today, however, when searching for the pictures on my laptop to send to Niall at Birdwatch, I spotted other ones I had taken at the earlier that day.
As you can see here, the right eye has not turned red yet. In the second, and third photos the change of colour is clearly visible.
In the
Jackdaw, Corvus monedula, on 12/04/09,at 10am


Same Jackdaw, on 12/04, at 6pm.

And a closer view:


So, apparently, whatever it is, which causes the loss of feathers, it is working quite rapid.
I presume that this bird's immune system was affected also.
What I am concerned about mostly, is what are the risks to the other Jackdaws?





Because Jackdaws are social birds


Because Jackdaws are social birds

Jackdaw with red eye and loss of feathers.

Just before Easter I spotted this Jackdaw which had come with what looked like feather-loss like a Robin which lost all its head feathers in the winter of 2007/2008.. Then I spotted the one red eye, something which I had not seen before. Does this bird carry an infection of some sorts? The skull looks very dry and crusted too.
With Elly's passing from this material world, other things needed my attention yet the Jackdaw stayed in my mind, also because it kept returning until the 12th this month.

Jackdaw, Corvus monedula




Being pecked by the Rooks this boy (or girl) had really difficulty in feeding peacefully. . So I started shooing off the Rooks with water in the plantsprayer. I hoped to create a quiet area for the Jackdaw. However I might have created the opposite.
Did my sprayer (which I use through the window) scare the poor thing?

Update on my House Sparrow's Health (1)

Two perky House Sparrows, today in the garden:


Before sending my photo to Niall Hatch at BirdwatchIreland I posted my problem at folks at BGB orBritish Garden Birdsand see what my friends there would come up with.
Thing was, I had read about these scabs recently, when googling for a thread which I was reacting to. I even had told the poster of the thread to keep an eye on the Sparrows feeding on her patio because it was not only Chaffinches which were targeted by these scabs. Ironic, isn't it?
Anyway, my friends there relayed me to the BTO website on Avian Pox, which is what I had also googled for. The BTO's descriptions fit my poor Sparrow too.

The House Sparrow numbers had gone down to 14-16 recently, but as soon as I was writing my post on BGB telling of my measurements to hopefully keep feeding numbers (at any one time) down, 30+ birds descended onto the planter and my feeding trays.

Of course they had their own problems;feeding in these fresh and troublesome winds, posed huge problems for these small creatures, relying on flight. The Rooks too were having great trouble, not only staying 'afloat' but also in keeping direction. My biggest surprise was to see the Swallows up and about as if this was just any ordinary day. I cannot imagine though how hard it must have been to find food in the skies.
So perhaps this is one of those days in which Swallows in olden times resorted to Hawthorn berries to supplement their diet in order to gain that extra weight before heading off to South Africa?

Anyway, the best I can do to deal with this Avian pox, is for me to keep up the rigorous cleaning and sterilizing of the food trays each morning, as I have been doing for two weeks now. (I had not discovered the scabs around the eyes yet in that particular Sparrow, yet I had spotted one which rang this little alarm in the back of my mind. One which just needed careful observing, Just In Case something was wrong. I guess any birder who has had to deal with Trichomoniasis in his or her garden knows what I mean by this.

And although it was busy again, Sparrow style, I am still unable to tell if the little scab sparrow was among them. One 'wary' looking Sparrow was among them, most certainly, yet when I pointed the camera and the binoculars in its direction, I was looking straight into the Sun!
So hopefully I can spot it again tomorrow.
And here are some of yesterday's images as they flocked around their breakfast and later lunch and Tea. Clearly my efforts to diminish the Flock-Feeding were not met with approval, apparently:










And some of today's images,A Rook's arrival; just keep on feeding!And a Great Tit feeding on the Insects in the hollow Fennel stalks