Blackbirds sick? (1 Viewer)

[hangarman2k]

I have a couple of Blackbirds in my garden that are looking a bit worse for wear, The female has lost all of her chest feathers and her tail feathers have mostly fallen out just leaving short stumpy ones.
She is eating well and flying around as normal,so can anyone shed light on it also the male has lost just a few feathers of the top of his head.

 

[Mary]

I think it's just wear and tear, bearing in mind all the effort they put into rearing young. This is our resident male at the moment.... well, she must see something in him:-O They'll soon be starting to moult and get a new set of feathers.

 

[Ian Hamiltan]

I have a couple of Blackbirds in my garden that are looking a bit worse for wear, The female has lost all of her chest feathers and her tail feathers have mostly fallen out just leaving short stumpy ones.
She is eating well and flying around as normal,so can anyone shed light on it also the male has lost just a few feathers of the top of his head.

sounds like they could be just moulting.

 

[Peewit]

Hi Hangarman2k

Hangarman2k you what you have described here, yes the Blackie's look like this where we stay too and they look worse for wear. Mr Bald boy in my garden has lost his crowning glory too!!.

I have seem male Blackie's with no tails feathers too. The feathers tend to regrow back again which is good.

My present female Blackie looks although she has a sore patch on her back, and it is red and raw looking. The 2 young immature female Blackie's have a raw patch on their backs too. So it looks like they like to fight and hurt each other a lot!!.

I have seem some real heavy duty tussles between male Blackie's where I live now. They really love to have a good brawl with each other. It looks vicious to me, as they are out to peck each other as much as they can. :eek!: :eek!:

Mary it is good to know that they end up with a set of new feathers again.

I had one male blackie (in Scotland) who ended up with no tail feathers because of all the brawls he got himself into. I called him 'Tailess' boy :eek!:

So I think it is normal to see male Blackie's looking like the picture as seem on this thread. They are so territoral and they are not nice to each other at all. :eek!: :eek!:

Nature is cruel at times, and it is the fittest that seems to win each time (looks do not come into it at all) :king:

Anyway we can only hope that these birds are not too affected by this!!

Peewit

 

[Mabel]

Could also be feather mites. Hopefully this year's moult and if the weather chills later that should sort that out.

 

[Peewit]

hi Mabel

True, I never thought of that - mites!! :eek!: :eek!:

If it is it must be an itchy experience for them - hence to red/raw patches on their backs/heads. So it may be a combination of many things. :-C

Still seen a few brawls too!! Boys will be boys!! :eek!:

Peewit

 

[KnockerNorton]

No, it's not mites, this is just the annual moult. Some birds often lose huge chunks of feathers - they'll be totally bald and lose the whole tail, but it's normal and common. They're just shedding all the worn feathers after breeding and will grow a complete new set (adults ) or mostly new set (juvs) over a few weeks. That's why many birds are keeping a low profile at the moment - they keep their heads down while the feathers regrow.

Sick birds are easy to spot - they close their eyes, look lethargic, fluff up, and don't do much. Scruffy birds that are otherwise alert are just moulting.

 

[ayasuda]

I think it's just wear and tear, bearing in mind all the effort they put into rearing young. This is our resident male at the moment.... well, she must see something in him They'll soon be starting to moult and get a new set of feathers.

I think men with balding patch should take note that a bird will still stand by her male even though the top gets a little thin.

 

[KnockerNorton]

I think men with balding patch should take note that a bird will still stand by her male even though the top gets a little thin.

Yeah, but the bird knows it's gonna grow back!

 

[hangarman2k]

Is this happening just to Blackbirds?, as all the other spieces look alright after this long wet season

 

[Mary]

I've seen robins and bluetits looking just as bad. Now I think about it, it's mainly the insect eaters, rather than finches, that appear the worst affected. Anyone else noticed this? Coincidence or diet!?

 

[KnockerNorton]

I've seen robins and bluetits looking just as bad. Now I think about it, it's mainly the insect eaters, rather than finches, that appear the worst affected. Anyone else noticed this? Coincidence or diet!?

Moult!

 

[Mary]

I agree, these birds are moulting, but why do greenfinches, goldfinches, house sparrows not appear in the garden with bald patches? Do they replace feathers in a different way so that bald patches don't show?

 

[Peewit]

I agree, these birds are moulting, but why do greenfinches, goldfinches, house sparrows not appear in the garden with bald patches? Do they replace feathers in a different way so that bald patches don't show?

I have often wondered about this too. They must deal with things in a different way.

It may be the fact, as they are smaller birds so we do not see their bald patches so easily say like say a Blackbird size wise.

Got to admit I have seem very beaten up Robins in the height of winter (in the snow) who seem to survive. Again this one I did see could have been a youngster in the state of moult but in the height of winter - surely not. Big question here?. I know they only live for 18 months or so. :-C

Also Chaffinches who has been in the wars too. There was one Chaffinch we had in our garden we called 'gamy leg' as his legs where full of horrible growths. I could not work out what they where?. I thought it was based on the cleanliness of my birdtable.
One of his legs was rendered useless. He never place it on the ground at all. So he could not keep his feathers in good condition, and looked quite scruffy for lack of feather care. He became a bit of a feathered friend. He relied on us feeding him.

My Mr Blackie is worse for wear now, and looks although he is having a really bad hair day. His feathers have started to fall out of his tail too. He has half a tail at the moment. The sooner he gets his new feathers the better.

More to the point he is still looking after his youngsters and feeding them. What a lovely father he is. :-O

:t:

Peewit

 

[KnockerNorton]

Other birds do get ragged up like this too, it's just that you don't tend to see the same birds as often, or see a different number of them. Not every blackbird gets a bald head, and not every greenfinch doesn't, but if you're only seeing 2 blackbirds a day and one of them is bald, then it looks like a lot, whereas seeing 12 greenfinches and none of them are bald (or less obviously so) looks like a rule of thumb too.

 

[chrisl]

the birds feathers getting messed up is also due to breeding i.e. feeding and incubating. Female birds loose the feathers on their undersides so as to help with the incubation of the eggs. The parents heads will also get quite tatty this especially visible wit like blue tits as they get all messed up feeding their young.
I imagine this is why they moult at this time of year and plus they dont need to have nice shiny feathers to impress the opposite sex.

 

[firmpig]

Bald Greenfinch

I agree, these birds are moulting, but why do greenfinches, goldfinches, house sparrows not appear in the garden with bald patches? Do they replace feathers in a different way so that bald patches don't show?

Hi Mary (and Peewit). I have a bald greenfinch in my garden and it's been getting steadily worse. We call him Gary. See attached picture.

 

[Peewit]

Hi Mary (and Peewit). I have a bald greenfinch in my garden and it's been getting steadily worse. We call him Gary. See attached picture.

Hi firmpig

Your picture is a good example of how small birds are inflicted too, in a big way.

Gary has got it bad. I have never seem a Greenie looking like this before. This must be the molting process, or something else he has been inflicted with. I wonder?

In one of my previous gardens, Mr Chaffie named Mr Gammey Leg, with the growths on his legs (one leg looked useless). He looked scruffy more than bald. He was dependant on us, as he could not perch on a feeder at all. He remained feeding on the ground instead. :-C

I can see looks do not come into it at all. May as well the molt is at this time of year after all :t:

Peewit

 

[Mary]

That's certainly the first greenfinch I've seen in that state!