[jbpixels]

Hello to all in the forum. Uploading my shots for a while brought me an interesting encounter with an "unusual" Blue Tit a few days ago. Receiving great feedback from real experts is something that i learned here but the described Blue Tit has a special gene expression.

Please watch my photo at
http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/sho...2/ppuser/96500
and please leave a comment.

Forensic testing is not applicable (lol), the Tit was in good health.

@ Peewit, thanks for your advice.

[Espen]

definately not a hybrid as it is as typical as a blue tit can get exept the scratty face area, which i would say is probably some sort of infection, maybe mites

[jbpixels]

@Espen: Thanks for your statement. Do you think mites can grow feathers?

[jbpixels]

Originally Posted by jbpixels

@Espen: Thanks for your statement. Do you think mites can grow feathers?

A mite living under the birds skin would lead to serious health problems.

I do believe now that it eventually was an injury that caused this deformation but it could also have to do sth with the genes.

Too sad that no ornithologist or vet saw the photo.

[Andrew Rowlands]

Originally Posted by jbpixels

Too sad that no ornithologist or vet saw the photo.

Perhaps your question was not titled intriguingly enough to tempt a visit by a member either of those professions.

Maybe you should email someone at your local NABU branch or show your photograph to a local vet if you're not happy with the quality of the answers on this forum?

[Kits]

Maybe post it in the ID section?

[jbpixels]

@ Andrew Rowlands and in general.
I put it here because i experienced that many birdforum viewers are experts, as i already mentioned in #1 and i do not know the professional qualification of the members. I guess i can explain why i do not share an opinion. A studied expert is, that is the nature of science, in most cases the utmost expert. It is not a question of credibility or quality, it is a question to find the most suitable answer or just knowledge. Thank you for your advice but my intention was to show this "unusual" Blue Tit photo to Birdforum and this is one more good reason why i'am registered here but a few more answers/ideas would be great.

[Espen]

i wasn't thinking of a mite under the skin but a feather mite as is very common in birds visiting feeding stations(it's easily spread ths way as lots of birds visit and are in close proximity, i fail to see how it could be a result of injury. parasite, or bacterial, and maybe even fungal(?) infection seems the obvious explanation to me, and they are commoner than you think, just often they are not visible, or not a extreme as this.

[AlfArbuthnot]

It's just wet on the face.

[jbpixels]

@Espen: Thank you for your reply. I'am not sure about an injury but an earlier wound can cause a later modification in the appearance and function of skin/feathers/plumage after the healing. Depending on the type of parasite a superficial infestation could be identified and would result in a visibly changing behaviour, for example itchy skin leads to scratching et cetera and those events would not lead to this result, as i believe. You describe the "most obvious" explanations and indeed in the world of birds illness and fatality belong to the consequences of parasite infestations.
@ AlfArbuthnot: I'am not quite sure what the term "wet" means.

[Espen]

Originally Posted by jbpixels

@Espen: Thank you for your reply. I'am not sure about an injury but an earlier wound can cause a later modification in the appearance and function of skin/feathers/plumage after the healing. Depending on the type of parasite a superficial infestation could be identified and would result in a visibly changing behaviour, for example itchy skin leads to scratching et cetera and those events would not lead to this result, as i believe. You describe the "most obvious" explanations and indeed in the world of birds illness and fatality belong to the consequences of parasite infestations.
@ AlfArbuthnot: I'am not quite sure what the term "wet" means.

it means it has water on it (soaked into the feathers), but it isn't wet, it would look different if it was just wet

[jbpixels]

@Espen: Thanks for the explanation and exactly the reason why I didn´t understand it. My "Wet LTT" photo is an example for a tit wet in the face.