From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Thu Jan 27 19:56:53 2005 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id j0S3sOGh025934 for <[[email protected]]>; Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:54:24 -0800 (PST) Received: from pop-a065c10.pas.sa.earthlink.net (pop-a065c10.pas.sa.earthlink.net [207.217.121.184]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id j0S3qmAf025888 for <[[email protected]]>; Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:52:48 -0800 (PST) Received: from user-38ldt8l.dialup.mindspring.com ([209.86.245.21]) by pop-a065c10.pas.sa.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1CuNBe-0007cl-00 for [[email protected]]; Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:52:46 -0800 Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v619) In-Reply-To: References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Les Chibana <[[email protected]]> Subject: Re: [SBB] sick Golden-crowned Sparrow Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:53:13 -0800 To: South Bay Birders <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.619) X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5b1 Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Kendric, It sounds like a classic case of avian pox. I don't know the status of another disease, mycoplasma, in the west. It also affects they eyes, but in a different way. It seems that ground feeders often get avian pox and develop lesions forming over the eyes and/or toes. These look like crusty, flakey enlarged areas around the eyes, which can end up looking much like a chameleon's eyes. The mycoplasma infection (related to a poultry disease) develops as reddish, weepy swelling around the eyes. I recommend not catching the bird, but you may want to take down your feeders and wash them thoroughly with a 10% bleach solution (90% water). Don't put the feeders out for a couple of weeks. Either is highly contagious and can spread to other birds at crowded feeders. On the other hand if it's pox, some believe that many birds already have it in their systems and many (most?) survive it. It's not necessarily fatal; I have heard of banding records of a bird that had pox one year and was renetted in a subsequent year with no sign of the affliction. They may face increased vulnerability to a predator. I don't know if either are considered viral or bacterial, therefore, bleach may or may not help. I've heard disagreement on this. There's is a chance that Merlie could get it if it hasn't already munched on a poxy bird. But I have no knowledge of whether or not it's a problem for falcons, or any birds of prey. Les On Jan 27, 2005, at 4:21 PM, Kendric C. Smith wrote: > We have a sick Golden-crowned Sparrow at our feeder. It is blind in > one eye due to a growth on that side. It is also sort of hunch > backed, and not a happy camper, although when it saw me close with its > good eye it flew off OK. > > I think that I could capture it by throwing a towel over it, if I get > another chance on its blind side. > > QUESTION: > Should I try to catch it? > Should I keep it alive and give it to someone? > Should I kill it and discard, or kill it and preserve it for testing? > > Kendric > -- > Kendric C. Smith, Ph.D. > 927 Mears Court > Stanford, CA 94305-1041 > (650) 493-7210 (voice or fax) > [[email protected]] > http://www.stanford.edu/~kendric/ _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]