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Post by justvin on Dec 30, 2020 12:48:19 GMT
Hi, new member here and looking for some info from others.
I found a dead chaffinch outside a neighbour's house here in Wales a few weeks ago and over Christmas we have found 3 dead at ours. I'm guessing it's an outbreak of trichomonosis and wondered if others have noticed any other outbreaks?
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Post by Tringa on Dec 30, 2020 14:59:05 GMT
Hello Justvin and welcome to WABI.
I haven't noticed anything unusual with chaffinches recently, but then we don't have very many here, However, no signs in other birds too.
It could be disease but is it possible due to them flying into windows?
Dave
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Post by aeshna5 on Dec 30, 2020 16:52:14 GMT
Chaffinch numbers have declined a lot in some places & the BTO are doing work into this. They are susceptible to Trichomoniasis, so it's possibly the reason but with no evidence may be due to other factors too. Around my way I see few breeding birds no but I'm seeing a few wintering birds at the moment in a number of local sites I regularly visit. Last year I had a couple of sizeable flocks (c70 & c40 but haven't seen more than 6 yet anywhere.)
Though Goldfinches are still widespread, numbers of these also seem lower than recent years. There's often been a flock of c40 down my road but most I've seen in the garden is 11. Some places I go to I can see hardly any finches (or Blackbirds). Yesterday I visited one site- Perivale Park- which has the best finch flock with c40 Linnets, c30 Goldfinch, 6+ Chaffinch & 2 Reed Bunting. In the summer there were a few Greenfinches but none here now.
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Post by Psamathe on Dec 30, 2020 17:36:11 GMT
Quite a few years ago I had an outbreak of Trichomonosis (checked/verified by ZSL who were doing research into the spread at that time and I had to send a dead bird to them for checking). One distinctive aspect I noticed was birds suffering but not yet dead. I found several (at different times) on the ground, tucked into a corner, fluffed up throat. Most totally unaware of my approach or presence but some would tuck themselves further into their corder - no attempts to fly away. I'll turn out some photos tomorrow (on other computer if I've still got them).
My understanding (but I welcome being corrected) is that it tends to start in pigeons but can spread to finches (and others). Bird feeders are a big source of spread - I was told to take down all feeders for a month, then scrupulous cleaning/disinfecting.
Ian
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Post by Cotham Marble on Dec 30, 2020 18:01:51 GMT
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Post by justvin on Dec 30, 2020 18:59:20 GMT
Hello Justvin and welcome to WABI. I haven't noticed anything unusual with chaffinches recently, but then we don't have very many here, However, no signs in other birds too. It could be disease but is it possible due to them flying into windows? Dave None were found near any windows, we noticed one around the bird-table looking 'sluggish' and thought it was ill. The cat got it before we could stop him unfortunately. This was after already finding one dead and I remembered the one I saw at the neighbours. Thank you for the welcome. |
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Post by justvin on Dec 30, 2020 19:07:52 GMT
Chaffinch numbers have declined a lot in some places & the BTO are doing work into this. They are susceptible to Trichomoniasis, so it's possibly the reason but with no evidence may be due to other factors too. Around my way I see few breeding birds no but I'm seeing a few wintering birds at the moment in a number of local sites I regularly visit. Last year I had a couple of sizeable flocks (c70 & c40 but haven't seen more than 6 yet anywhere.) Though Goldfinches are still widespread, numbers of these also seem lower than recent years. There's often been a flock of c40 down my road but most I've seen in the garden is 11. Some places I go to I can see hardly any finches (or Blackbirds). Yesterday I visited one site- Perivale Park- which has the best finch flock with c40 Linnets, c30 Goldfinch, 6+ Chaffinch & 2 Reed Bunting. In the summer there were a few Greenfinches but none here now. We get quite a few chaffinches here and a couple of goldfinches but haven't seen a greenfinch for years. It could be another illness but no other species is affected so far. It's a shame you don't see any blackbirds, luckily we have lots here. Thank you for your reply. |
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Post by justvin on Dec 30, 2020 19:14:03 GMT
Quite a few years ago I had an outbreak of Trichomonosis (checked/verified by ZSL who were doing research into the spread at that time and I had to send a dead bird to them for checking). One distinctive aspect I noticed was birds suffering but not yet dead. I found several (at different times) on the ground, tucked into a corner, fluffed up throat. Most totally unaware of my approach or presence but some would tuck themselves further into their corder - no attempts to fly away. I'll turn out some photos tomorrow (on other computer if I've still got them). My understanding (but I welcome being corrected) is that it tends to start in pigeons but can spread to finches (and others). Bird feeders are a big source of spread - I was told to take down all feeders for a month, then scrupulous cleaning/disinfecting. Ian I wish I'd inspected them but I stupidly put them out for the corvids and raptors (we do this for any left overs the cat leaves). I will have a closer look at the next one I find and bury it instead, I feel pretty bad I left them out for other birds. Btw we now have a new bird-table and will disinfect it if we see anymore finches on it. |
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Post by justvin on Dec 30, 2020 19:16:10 GMT
Thank you for the info, I will see what I can do to help. Edit: I have made a report to the GWHP. |
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Post by Psamathe on Dec 31, 2020 15:53:52 GMT
Couple of images   |
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Post by justvin on Dec 31, 2020 17:18:03 GMT
Couple of images They didn't look as fluffed-up as that so it could well be something else, is that an extreme case or do most look like that? I'm sorry, I'd forgotten to mention in a previous reply that all the chaffinches were males. |
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Post by Psamathe on Dec 31, 2020 17:35:09 GMT
They didn't look as fluffed-up as that so it could well be something else, is that an extreme case or do most look like that? I'm sorry, I'd forgotten to mention in a previous reply that all the chaffinches were males. I can't remember as to extreme cases as it was quite some time ago. From memory the dead were distinctive; ZSL were doing research and said from my description almost certainly that disease but for research they still wanted a corpse to confirm (they can't count "anecdotal" data). Most I found were dead and I didn't photograph others. I can't imagine the disease would affect any gender worse (given it likely spread through feeders) so I'd guess that the dead male/female numbers would reflect the male/female balance in your local population (but that's a non-expert guess). Ian |
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Post by justvin on Dec 31, 2020 20:35:50 GMT
I can't remember as to extreme cases as it was quite some time ago. From memory the dead were distinctive; ZSL were doing research and said from my description almost certainly that disease but for research they still wanted a corpse to confirm (they can't count "anecdotal" data). Most I found were dead and I didn't photograph others. I can't imagine the disease would affect any gender worse (given it likely spread through feeders) so I'd guess that the dead male/female numbers would reflect the male/female balance in your local population (but that's a non-expert guess). Ian The two that I saw that looked ill were fluffed-up, I'm guessing they would like that with any illness in this season though. The dead birds all looked like they had just keeled over - they weren't swollen at all. I hadn't thought of gender imbalance and will look out for that. All visiting finches since look healthy the last few days so I'm hoping the problem has passed. |
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Post by Cotham Marble on Jan 1, 2021 14:56:10 GMT
As chaffinches display a gender difference in migration habit, (females and younger birds tend to move further southward than older males), there may well be a gender difference in population level disease exposure depending on the time of year. So it's not that females are less prone but the birds that we see in UK gardens may consist of males which have had higher levels of disease exposure locally from each other, while the females which can include many from Scandinavia have, at least at the beginning of winter, had lower disease exposure in less densely aggregated northern populations. However I've no idea if there is actual data to suggest this actually happens.
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