A House Finch sat at one of the backyard feeders on Sunday and didn’t spook when the Blue Jays came through sounding an alarm. I knew there must be something wrong… and my concerns were confirmed when I saw the bird’s eye (pictured right). This House Finch was a victim of House Finch Disease, also known as House Finch conjunctivitis (Mycoplasma gallisepticum). The disease is spread through contact at feeders so I took down all the feeders on Monday and gave them a thorough scrubbing with a 10% bleach solution (1 part bleach : 9 parts water) and allowed them to dry before rehanging them. Although the disease is actually a respiratory disease, it causes problems with the eye. From what I’ve read at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology site, the birds who do not survive usually die from not being able to feed, from losing sight, or from predation, but not from the disease itself. I found the finch again this afternoon and he was not in good shape; I don’t believe he survived the day. I suffer the loss of any animal to disease and want to take precautions to minimize the risk of this infection spreading to the other House Finches. This disease was first identified in 1994 in Maryland and it has spread across the country in a very short time. The Cornell site has excellent information about this disease as well as an ongoing citizen science project that is collecting data on reported cases. I’ll be submitting data and photos.
Hello Pat
Well that answers my comment about the feeders being down overnight. Never a nice sight seeing a sick bird or animal knowing there is nothing that can be done for it.
Les
How horrible! Your posting update through Bloglet was a great teaser to get me here. You do a really good job with that. And what a sad story. I had no idea. It’s terrible to feel so helpless.
Hi there – sorry to hear about this sad story, but I know that your feeders are the best place for any bird of any kind to come to. So thank goodness you have such concern for the animal world. They know they can trust you, so take heart in knowing you have a special place for all birds to come…… Ginny
It’s never good to see an animal in pain, but it’s nature’s way. But, I see no problem with assitsting sick house finches.
Hello Pat. I stumbled upon your journal by googling “finch diseases” and I believe you may have provided me with an answer as to what is wrong with a few of the finches that visit my balcony on a regular basis. A question though, I have read several things about House Finch Disease and they all say the same thing, that these birds do not eat well, they are lethargic etc. My question is, does this disease cause the infected finch to not leave the feeder? Twice now I have gotten up very early and witnessed a particular finch at the feeder sound asleep, as though he spent the night without me realizing it. Also, the two birds that I believe were infected looked as though they were all poofed up trying to keep warm, and they ate constantly, do these symptoms match what you witnessed in your yard?
On a happier note, the first bird that I witnessed with these symptoms has recovered. She is so specific looking that I was able to keep track of her in the crowd, and by this spring she looked much better and almost healthy. She spent many nights all tucked in next to some decorations on my balcony, actually sleeping on my balcony, which is what led me to believe that she was sick (the other birds wanted nothing to do with her) This is a horrible disease.
Susan,
Your description of the finches matches what I’ve experienced with the birds suffering with House Finch Disease. They are very lethargic and stay at the feeders (eating constantly) even when approached. It is quite sad to see and I’ve heard other reports of birds recovering from the disease. I’m delighted one of yours was a survivor!! The House Finches at my feeders seem to have this problem in late summer and early fall. Although I scrub the feeders, I don’t see how the infected bird(s) could help but contaminate the feeders at the next visit. So, frequent cleaning seems ineffective.
I had an infected American Goldfinch at the feeders this spring. It had the same very round shape and lethargic behavior. It died, unfortunately, two days after it arrived. This was the first time I’ve observed a goldfinch with the disease, although the Cornell Lab of Ornithology tracks goldfinch as part of their House Finch Eye Disease project.
I, too, become so attached to the birds in my yard and it’s hard to see “nature take its course” through predation or disease. But I keep enjoying and learning from the birds.
Thanks for such a quick response!
I am glad to know what exactly is wrong with these poor birds, I just wish there was some way to fix it. I have lived here for 3 years, so the option of removing the feeders to help stop the spread of the disease is not really fair to the birds who have come to rely on them, especially since the sick birds at least know they’ll be able to find food here.
I guess I will just start scrubbing the feeders on a regular basis, and I’ll probably add a few more feeders so that they aren’t so crowded on to the three available now.
Again, thanks for your response, and have a great Sunday!
I am in North Louisiana and all of the many house finches in my backyard appear to be infected. Several have died. What can be done? How far has this spread?
Laura
Laura,
I, too, am dealing with many infected house finches this summer. I don’t see any evidence that cleaning the feeders with the bleach solution keeps the feeders from being quickly recontaminated by the birds. So I don’t find this to be an effective solution. I regret that the disease will probably claim many birds before the birds disperse away from the feeders in cold weather. During winter I usually have only 2-3 house finches at my feeders yet they do very well in wooded areas. I’m not sure why that is but the disease seems to stop in cold weather. Normal bird mortality for many species is very, very high. I’ve heard that 80% of the chickadees born this year will not survive to next year (this has nothing to do with the eye disease). So I’m trying to accept that, although very sad, the loss of a number of house finches isn’t affecting their numbers. They are very successful breeders and I hope they continue to rebound in spite of the eye disease. Not much consolation, I know.
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