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greenfinches dying of Trichomoniasis in UK (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter canaryjayne
- Start date
Hi Jenny/all
This is so sad to hear how the state of play is with the Greenfinches/finches in general at the moment. :-C
I just moved from Aberdeenshire in March this year (to Bedford). I have to say that there where no shortage of greenfinches where I stayed in Aberdeen (and it was farmland mainly).
We have always had a lot of finches of all types while living at our Scottish addresses over the years.
The only odd thing I have found is that one of our male Chaffinches has lumps growing on his legs (like fungal growth), so it cramped his style a bit. So we looked after him a bit. I understand that Chaffinches are prone to this disease. I do not know whether if is to do with food/water hygiene or not? :eek!:
So this winter will show a lot what has been happening with the Garden Birds in general in Bedford. I think it will be the survival of the fittest too.
I hope it is good news, whatever the outcome.
NB Thanks Jimmer for the link it is very interesting, and I have saved it to my favs.
Mary
Well-known member
I had an outbreak of deaths caused by the Trichomonas parasite last year, despite strict hygiene. It has also reappeared again recently, and one of the birds was a dunnock. Post mortems have confirmed the cause each time. I have been trying to pass the word re hygiene, but I'm sure there must still be folk who perhaps don't realise how important cleanliness is. We try to help the birds, but maybe sometimes have the opposite affect.
Your point about bird-baths is spot on. If an infected bird drinks, it can pass the parasite on to others, as it can survive for a time in the water. It is vital that the water is changed every day, and the dish rinsed and allowed to dry out each night, then disinfected weekly when the feeders are done.
This thread has info on hygiene etc.
http://birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=67323
This link is to the Garden Bird health Initiative, and also has links to advice.
http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/ioz/projects/garden_bird_health_initiative.htm
Hope you are able to prevent further problems in your area, Jenny. It would be great if you can pass the message on locally!
Hi Mary
Thanks for your concerns here. It does make us all think about feeder, and water hygiene at all times.
Good links, and are well worth taking note of as they are very important now. :t:
I work in Animal Welfare. In the last couple of weeks in the Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire areas nearly every other Pigeon/Dove ssp I have picked up has been suffering from it. They also pass it on to those that predate on them, their offspring as well as those they share feeding areas with.
Cleaning Bird feeders and feeding stations is a must!
Cleaning Bird feeders and feeding stations is a must!
Mary
Well-known member
That's a terrible picture, Simon. I really can't see how there can be an end to it, until everyone is commited to the hygiene regime. People start off with good intentions, but get fed up, and leave feeders and water baths untended. I think the baths are perhaps the biggest problem. I see so many left with dirty, green water in, that birds are still drinking from.
I know the Bird food companies sell disinfectants, etc, and have info in their catalogues, but I don't think there has been enough publicity about what's happening. I am now challenging CJ Wildbirdfood, Gardman, Haithes, and all the rest who supply local pet shops as well as the big garden centres, to enter into a National Campaign to encourage folk to Clean Up! The message should be ' if you can't clean-don't feed or water'.
(You've probably guessed, it's an issue I'm passionate about:-O)
Steve Dudley
aka The Toadsnatcher
Hi everyone
I'm just catching up on threads and found this very interesting one. I saw that Mary finally posted the most useful item being the link to the Garden Bird Health Initiative at
http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/ioz/projects/garden_bird_health_initiative.htm
I'm not inly interested asn avid birder with a large feeding station (over 450 birds recorded at a single sitting), but professionally I organise conferences for the BOU and have organised two in recent years on bird diseases.
Garden bird deaths are going to be more obvious to those of us with large feeding stations. More birds equates to a greater likelihood of finding ill, dying or dead birds. More birds also equates to a greater risk of disease transfer from bird to bird and across species.
It must be noted that not all ill birds seen in your garden have 'tricho'. The symptons to most avian diseases result in lethargic and fluffed up birds. I had over 20 dead birds analysed last year and non proved positive for tricho.
All of us who feed garden birds must be aware that concentrations of any bird species represents an increased health risk to both the birds and ourselves. Birds have naturally occuring levels of bacteria such as salmonella and e-coli, and these will be present in small traces at garden bird feeding stations. Good hygiene helps - keep drinking and bathing water clean, replacing regularly (not just topping up) and cleaning baths etc regularly (I scrub mine every other day and allow one at a time to stand empty for several days before disinfecting then leaving to stand for a few days more before reusing), clean feeders regularly (I have two sets of feeders which get rotated fortnightly), remove the build up of seeds and husks below a feeder. If seed isnt being eaten soon after dropping to the ground, its likely not to be eaten. If you have large build up of uneaten seeds your birds are telling you something - change your birdseed mix or supplier! They dont eat rubbish. I've honed my mixes down so that I have zero waste. I mix most of my own buying the raw ingredients by the sack and mixing as I need it (suppliers such as Vine House Farm Bird Food can supply sacks of most seeds for you to do this if you find the standard mixes are being wasted - but it takes up a lot of room!). This cuts out the rubbish such as wheat, maize chips, pea, linseed, hemp, etc which often cause the build up of uneaten seed or here, attracts only pheasants and collared doves (and I have enough of both).
Personally I dont follow GBHi guidelines when it comes to dead birds, as I collect all my dead birds as I find them (not the decomposing ones!) and freeze (treat as you would dog poo with a plastic bag over your hand, tie a knot, place in another plastic bag, place in an old ice cream tub and stick in the freezer not forgetting to add a note with finding lcoation and date). If GBHi dont want them for analysis I send them to either to the regional museum or to Tring (museums rarely turn down fresh specimens where the finding details are known and can be recorded as part of the documentation).
Steve
I'm just catching up on threads and found this very interesting one. I saw that Mary finally posted the most useful item being the link to the Garden Bird Health Initiative at
http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/ioz/projects/garden_bird_health_initiative.htm
I'm not inly interested asn avid birder with a large feeding station (over 450 birds recorded at a single sitting), but professionally I organise conferences for the BOU and have organised two in recent years on bird diseases.
Garden bird deaths are going to be more obvious to those of us with large feeding stations. More birds equates to a greater likelihood of finding ill, dying or dead birds. More birds also equates to a greater risk of disease transfer from bird to bird and across species.
It must be noted that not all ill birds seen in your garden have 'tricho'. The symptons to most avian diseases result in lethargic and fluffed up birds. I had over 20 dead birds analysed last year and non proved positive for tricho.
All of us who feed garden birds must be aware that concentrations of any bird species represents an increased health risk to both the birds and ourselves. Birds have naturally occuring levels of bacteria such as salmonella and e-coli, and these will be present in small traces at garden bird feeding stations. Good hygiene helps - keep drinking and bathing water clean, replacing regularly (not just topping up) and cleaning baths etc regularly (I scrub mine every other day and allow one at a time to stand empty for several days before disinfecting then leaving to stand for a few days more before reusing), clean feeders regularly (I have two sets of feeders which get rotated fortnightly), remove the build up of seeds and husks below a feeder. If seed isnt being eaten soon after dropping to the ground, its likely not to be eaten. If you have large build up of uneaten seeds your birds are telling you something - change your birdseed mix or supplier! They dont eat rubbish. I've honed my mixes down so that I have zero waste. I mix most of my own buying the raw ingredients by the sack and mixing as I need it (suppliers such as Vine House Farm Bird Food can supply sacks of most seeds for you to do this if you find the standard mixes are being wasted - but it takes up a lot of room!). This cuts out the rubbish such as wheat, maize chips, pea, linseed, hemp, etc which often cause the build up of uneaten seed or here, attracts only pheasants and collared doves (and I have enough of both).
Personally I dont follow GBHi guidelines when it comes to dead birds, as I collect all my dead birds as I find them (not the decomposing ones!) and freeze (treat as you would dog poo with a plastic bag over your hand, tie a knot, place in another plastic bag, place in an old ice cream tub and stick in the freezer not forgetting to add a note with finding lcoation and date). If GBHi dont want them for analysis I send them to either to the regional museum or to Tring (museums rarely turn down fresh specimens where the finding details are known and can be recorded as part of the documentation).
Steve
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