Time to check birds at your bird feeder
The days are getting noticeably shorter now and the temperatures are beginning to drop and I’ve noticed over the last couple of days a big increase in garden bird numbers to the feeders. Sadly I also noticed for the first time a brown-reddish growth on the face of one of the many bluetits that came to the suet feeder yesterday. It appears that avian pox may have finally reached Abergavenny.
It’s probably a good time for those who feed the birds to spend a bit of time watching the antics of their feeder visitors and looking out for signs of the virus which causes the lesions and tumour-like growths.
Ongoing research to record spread of avian pox in UK.
While the official large scale Garden Bird Health Initiative came to an end in Spring 2010 both the RSPB and the Zoological Society of London are still running surveys to track the progress of the avian pox. If you spot a bird with symptom then you can report it to them to help them with their research.
The main symptoms to look out for are warty growths mainly around the head and neck though they can be found elsewhere on the body. Colours of the growths can range from pinks to red to browns and greys.
Impacts of avian pox on garden birds not fully understood.
Not a lot of information is known about the impacts of the virus on infected birds though they do seem to fly and feed normally. Problems may occur with smaller birds such as the tit family especially if the growths become large and are near their eyes or beak.
If you think one of your garden birds has become infected then it’s essential that you carry out good feeder hygiene. I spent yesterday evening scrubbing the feeders in hot water with some detergent in and then left them to soak in a bucketful of hot water with some baby bottle steriliser tablets dissolved in the water. I then had to scrub clean the roof (I don’t have a garden but the apartments fire exit goes out onto a roof top where I’ve put the feeders) with hot soapy water to ensure that any ground feeding birds are not infected.
The virus which causes the infection is very persistent and can survive a long time on infected surfaces such as feeders and tables so a good scrub really is needed to ensure that the surfaces are clean.
Advice is that if the infection starts to spread to your other garden birds then it’s best to reduce or even stop feeding for a month of so to prevent close contact between infected and healthy birds.
Early autumn is good time to spot the avian pox.
Early Autumn is a good time to spot if the virus is in your area because birds are beginning to make more visits to garden feeders as the wild food begins to run out. As the days grow shorter the birds also have less time to build up their energy reserves to see them through the night. This gives people the ideal opportunity to spend some time looking out for the signs.
If you spot any signs of the virus then you should report it to the RSPB by using their form available on the avian pox page (the link is in the top right corner of the page).
External sites:
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds: Avian pox.
Zoological Society of London: Avian pox.
Garden Bird Health Initiative: Feeding Garden birds best practice (pdf).
Garden Bird Health Intiative: Avian Pox factsheet (pdf).
