Male Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

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  robbyuk

• Apr 10, 2008

super chaffinch shot,great colours!

 

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  ken1940golf

• Apr 10, 2008

Beauty Adi!! see its got the same leg probs as the one I posted :t::t::t:

 

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  madamcoolpix

• Apr 11, 2008

Poor little thing! :-C I didn't take notice of the problem until I read Ken's remark! Still, the portrait is beautiful and very neat, very nice work, Adi!!! :t: :t: :t:

 

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  AdiW

• Apr 11, 2008

Thanks Robby, Ken and Marian for taking the time to look and post.

I emailed the RSPB about this Chaffinch, here's the reply, for those
that aren't aware of this desease:-

[COLOR="Red"]"From the photo that you have given me, it seems the Chaffinch is
suffering from a disease called Viral Papilloma. It's a skin disease
which is mainly found in Chaffinches. When they get the disease they
show warty growths on their feet and legs which causes malformations and
even amputation. Usually only one leg is affected and when they have it,
it tends to grow slowly over months or even years. When they catch it,
it tends to be just a nuisance to the bird rather than a life
threatening condition as they have short average lifespan. The bird can
catch the disease from: contact with an infected bird, transmitted via
indirect contact such as perches and this is entered into the bird from
a cut on the foot. There isn't a treatment or cure for this disease but
you could prevent the disease passing onto other birds, by cleaning out
your feeders regularly as feeders can get infected. There have been
number of reportings of this disease throughout the UK."[/COLOR]

Cheers
Adi

 

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  julie61

• Apr 11, 2008

A lovely image Adi and very interesting information :t::t:

 

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  AdiW

• Apr 12, 2008

Thanks Julie.