Why are greenfinches dying in my garden?
This question and Where are the Greenfinches?, I am asked on a regular basis. This article and my presentations/talks shed light as to why this is happening and suggests preventative measures we can, as part of responsible wild bird feeding practices, help to minimise the spread of this killer disease.
Mar 2018 It has been updated with a new video with Bullfinch and Goldfinch, with new relevant advice from BTO and Garden Wildlife Heath
NB. Uneaten food around the bird’s beak is a likely source of contamination for other birds
Trichomonosis or ‘fat finch’ disease… updated
For the past two years at my new address, the greenfinch population has been devastated by what I suspect is avian trichomonosis. Many people call it ‘fat finch disease’ a very apt description. In the UK, it first appeared in greenfinches visiting gardens in the summer/autumn 2005, as a result of the Citizen Science scheme, Garden BirdWatch, run by the British Trust for Ornithology, (BTO). It is a well-known disease called ‘canker’ in pigeons and ‘frounce’ in raptors. Pigeons and doves may be the main carriers.
The infection is the result of a parasitic organism, called Trichomonas gallinae. Last summer I had about 15 greenfinches visiting all at once, reducing to a handful over the winter months. This spring/summer (2010) 7 birds visited gradually reducing to none now (Oct 2010). I have always had greenfinches visiting on a daily basis. Nationally it has been estimated that in excess of half a million greenfinches have died. Considering that the UK greenfinch population is about 4 million birds, this is a huge reduction.
I don’t like using graphs! This is an exception though!
Symptoms
Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches, House sparrows, Bullfinches can be infected. Although it is Greenfinches that have been affected the most.The poor infected birds look lethargic, weak, sleepy, fluffed up, have difficulty breathing, are reluctant to fly, hang around bird feeders and attempt to eat. They physically cannot swallow food or drink. Unfortunately, food or water does not reach their stomach due to the ‘cheese‘ like lesions in the bird’s crop, caused by the parasite. The parasite itself feeds upon cell debris, pus and bacteria as found in the bird’s crop. As the disease progresses, birds may drool and have uneaten food on the beak with matted, wet plumage around the face and beak. The birds eat yet starve to death or die of thirst. You can often see them stretching their necks to probably to help with their discomfort. It could be described as the myxamotosis of the bird world.
It is heartbreaking to see greenfinches with this disease in your garden knowing that you may be responsible for the birds catching it. In my garden, it is mostly greenfinch males that catch the disease, as they have a more dominant position at bird feeders than females. In fact, it could be argued that the more dominant birds are more likely to die of trichomonosis because they are more dominant and therefore more likely to eat contaminated food. Thus the more dominant traits in breeding male greenfinches could be lost as they die from the disease along with their dominant genes, with females being forced to mate with less dominant males, or at least there could be an imbalance in male/female numbers. However that is a case for further research!!
How it spreads
As Trichomonosis cannot live for long outside of its host, especially where there is no moisture, it is generally transmitted through very close host-to-host contact. So sharing food and water resources offers a good transmission route. One method of infection is passed on from one bird to another by feeding regurgitated food. For example, greenfinches feed their offspring with regurgitated seeds whereas wood pigeons feed their offspring via pigeon milk. It is also spread by sick birds which are unable to swallow food. Infected birds will spit out food, or it drops from their beak. The infection is found in the saliva or in faeces so it is very easy for other birds to pick up the infection from any infected foods as they feed at feeders, bird tables or on the ground. Infected birds drinking from bird baths and thereby infecting the water is also likely to be another transmission route along with faecal transmission on food or into the water as they bathe. Courtship rituals are another potential transmission route, whereby a male bird offers a food parcel to his mate. The higher concentration of birds at feeding stations increases the spread of the infection. In 2010 I wrote to the BTO about Trichomonosis and its spread. Mike Toms(BTO) replied.
A potential source of infection for our bird visitors
Treatment
I recently revived some information from a Greenfinch and European Goldfinch breeder, for which I am grateful as it informed me about how breeders treat it and prompted me to update this article! He told he treated his sick birds with Ronidazole, which I note is used for Trichomonosis in pigeons and birds. This may well work for captive birds, which are easily isolated and treated away from the other birds.
IMPORTANT
Personally, I would not use medication for wild birds. I have no knowledge of medication, treatment or otherwise of this product. I am not a vet! How can you measure the right dose for effective treatment of a free-living wild bird under field conditions that may feed for a very short period before it flies away, without receiving the full medication dose? If it only receives a small dose, its possible the organism may become resistant to the medication. The wrong treatment may be taken by the wrong bird and could kill it. This may well be treatable in captive birds or racing pigeons, but wild free-living birds. I don’t think so. So what can we do? If possible, prevention is better than treatment.
Responsibility
I feed the birds for my pleasure and to help them. I don’t want to be killing them, right? As such, I feel I have a responsibility to provide the birds with a safe environment and use safe feeders in which they can feed.
Importance of feeding hygiene
This is when hygiene becomes very important. Feeders include all feeders including hanging trays, tables and ground feeders. My bird feeders are regularly cleaned with an environmentally friendly disinfectant and boiling water. Then left to air dry and stored. Another clean feeder stored in the garage is then used, so I alternate them frequently. Prior to having a wildlife pond made, I changed the bird bath water on a daily basis, again allowing it to air dry before refilling with fresh water. A simple old paint tray is useful for a bird bath, works a treat and makes use of something that just sits unused in the garage!
Birdbath. Simple, effective and cheap
Prevent contamination around bird feeding/bathing stations
Look beneath your feeder and you will likely see bird droppings, seeds and other materials. Over time this can build up and hold moisture. Trichomonosis can survive in such conditions long enough to infect other birds that may feed/search amongst this material.
Regularly move your feeders around the garden helping to eliminate this buildup. Remove the built up material and bin it. Failing that you could pour boiling water on it killing the organism. Be aware though that on soil, grass etc, this will likely kill other organisms near the soil surface such as earthworms.
Have different types of feeders to suit different species and place them around your garden, thereby spreading the numbers of birds in your garden and limit the overcrowding in small spaces.
Wear rubber gloves when cleaning, other organisms may be present, e.g. Salmonella.
Clean feeding stations regularly depending upon how dirty they become.
Place birdbath or water bowls away from bird feeders, bird tables or other areas where birds perch. This will help reduce faecal contamination or bird food spat out by an infected bird landing in the water.
Ground food should be placed in a different area of the garden on a daily basis.
Keep surfaces on which birds feed clean. I spray my squirrel baffle with an eco-friendly disinfectant.
As Woodpigeons (numbers visiting gardens has markedly increased in recent years, esp. in early summer when food gathering for their young) are carriers, it may be prudent to keep them away from feeders or ground tables. A range of products are available and you can also devise your own methods.
If you get a large number of birds at your feeding station and you fear the spread of this disease or you see an infected bird, the Garden Health Wildlife advice that you stop all feeding altogether for 2-4 weeks. This will make the birds disperse. Although likely the birds will find other feeders where these hygiene methods are not practiced.
Mouldy food may contain toxins which may cause disease in birds and harbour other infective organisms. e.g. Salmonella.
Keep food store dry and away from rodents. Mine is kept in a large and galvanised metal refuge bin.
Infection
If you see an infected bird, then feeders and table should be cleaned daily.
Spray your bird feeders with an eco-friendly disinfectant on the outside and around the perches, where food debris and faeces may contaminate food morsels.
Education
It may be right that I undertake these precautions but I still get infected birds. If people in my vicinity do not do likewise, these simple hygiene methods may not be adopted simply through lack of knowledge. This message needs to get to a wider audience, hence this article!
If you would like to take part in this valuable citizen science wildlife recording programme, Garden BirdWatch scheme whilst sitting in the comfort of your favourite armchair then see below……
“All my articles AND videos, GIVEN TO YOU FREE, are funded by my teaching and sales of award-winning bumblebee nest boxes, solitary bee boxes, peanut feeder and wormeries. Please help by spreading the word and forwarding this link to your friends and colleagues. https://nurturing-nature.co.uk
Thank you” George Pilkington
Refs and further reading
Infectious Diseases of Garden Birds- Minimising the Risks
Garden Wildlife Health download PDF
Report disease outbreaks here…
Trichomonosis has spread to Finland
For a detailed description of the Trichomonosis organism
Emerging infectious Disease Leads to Rapid Population Declines of Common British Birds
Join BTO Garden BirdWatch…..http://www.bto.org/gbw/
Dear George – absolutely brilliant – whoever thought we would both end up carrying out such two diverse careers after all we have BOTH been through!! Keep up the great and excellent work my friend. See you Thursday – Peter R.
Dear George, last evening we found a greenfinch in a distressed state ?we had monitored it all day & watched it get weaker until it didn’t attempt to fly away.Because it was so cold & snowing we brought it in to keep it warm intending to let it go today,sadly it died last night & reading the info you provided the symptoms were that of trichamonis.We feed a lot of birds daily & always ensure daily clean water & their dishes & tables cleaned frequently.Is there any thing else we should be doing.We had this problem last year in the spring when one died then.Do you think it’s trichamonis .Thanks .Lynda ,South Wales.
Dear Lynda, I will get back to you.Bye for now, George
Dear Lynda, I contacted Dr. Tim Harrison BTO, on your behalf, as I felt you were doing everything you could do. He sent me this reply….” By keeping food fresh and cleaning bird baths/feeders regularly, Lynda is essentially doing everything she can. Of course, the birds might be contracting disease from elsewhere, so there is something to be said for having the ‘cleanest restaurant in town’. If the problem persists, however, it would be sensible for Lynda to stop feeding for a short while (e.g. a week or two – certainly until no more diseased birds are seen), get everything really clean, then start again.
The other important thing to do is to tell the BTO about diseased birds through our simple online survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/disease_in_birds. Through this, important information is shared with a vet, Becki Lawson, at the Institute of Zoology, who is taking a lead in this research. You can contact Becki by emailing Becki.Lawson@ioz.ac.uk. Lynda – Becki would like to hear from you if you have the Greenfinch’s body available for post-mortem (this is the only way to confirm cause of death, e.g. trichomonosis).
HTH, bye George
Dear George, thank you very much for your reply.I have completed the
Online survey,however we disposed of the bird & therefore I don’t see
any point contacting Becci,should this occur again I will keep the birds
body & contact her for what to do next.
My husband pointed out to me that we had a Feral Pigeon which had
been a regular visitor to our garden for 2yrs ,this also identical symptoms to the Greenfinch,however we thought at the time it had died of old age.I have also completed info on that death online.
Once again thank you for your help .
Lynda, S Wales.
Lynda, my pleasure!
Just found a second green finch this week with these symptoms. We had this two years ago when we found three dead birds. Is the disease on the increase again?
Try the BTO web site for the latest news on that. George
I AM SO EXCITED!!! I have a single Green Finch on my feeder…
Jackie, you are very lucky and I can see why you are excited! I used to see 12-15 every day. Now I may see 1-3 every few months….thanks for sharing! Cheers, George
We have a sick greenfinch hanging round our garden. It has been around for 2 weeks and seems to be improving. Is it possible it may survive?
Hi Amanda, There are other avian diseases that are not fatal to birds so hopefully it will survive. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, George
We have a big fat greenfinch in our garden that appears to fit the description of having this disease with food round its mouth, only saw it yesterday for the first time. Its been eating at the feeders and been in the pond. Only flying away when about 4 ft away, our Lab has not even bothered it. I stopped mowing the lawn so as not to disturb it. Then came in to look it up as its was so much bigger than the others. Heart breaking as we have so many other finches and tits come. Hope it doesnt devistate the population. I will remove all food and clean my feeders.
Its a sorry sight to see Sue. WE think we are helping the birds and we may well be spreading this awful disease because we don’t keep our feeders, bird tables and areas around the feeders clean. Moving feeders every week, cleaning acc will help. Thanks for sharing. George
I live in east Sussex and used to see Green finches
in my garden until about 5 years ago but they have all gone presumably this awful disease is the cause.Is it possible there might be a come back here,and where in the country have they been spotted.
I have very few here nowadays. The population has crashed nationally by about 1/3, so it may take some time to build up numbers again, providing more don’t die off. Cheers, George
I’m glad I found this webpage as I watched a greenfinch die in my garden this evening. It was puffed up like a ball and matched all the symptoms you listed. I will certainly give my feeders a good clean and be more regular at doing so. I love these colourful characters and would hate to think I could be helping this disease spread. I will share this useful information with my friends who have feeders. Thanks for the great page.
My pleasure Karl. Please do spread the word! Thanks, George
Over the last two weeks i have found three g/finches dying or dead,thanks for this page i now know what it is .
Hope you can persuade your neighbours to clean their feeders! Cheers, George
Found several green finches dead or dying in my garden, will they recover in numbers
It appears that there are not recovering yet. Keep your feeders clean and send people to this site to be made aware of this killer. George
We have found 8 green finches dead in our garden in the last two weeks. Heartbreaking. We have been on this website and realise this is the same problem. We keep our feeders cleaned and bird bath not sure about neighbours . We have had pigeons and doves a lot in our garden.what can we do apart from not feed birds anymore.? We have so many different birds. This is really a dilemma for all.We live in Wiltshire not come across this before.
Check out the Guardian bird feeding cage,keeps out larger birds the ground feed HTH George
I have a poorly green finch. Its not fat just normal but cold. I’ve got it to drink water and left it near an electric heater with food and water in my green house. Is there more I need to do. I’ll check all my feeders but I normally only get starlings and sparrows! I found it on the lawn and picked it up. It was clinging to me and felt warm compared to me but it snuggled against me. I think it’ll be dead by morning.
Very difficult to say Sally. It could be suffering shock from a cat attack, injured or have fat finch disease. I hope it survives. I wrote about some medication RANIDEZOLE that could be given to a bird with fat finch disease, it may be worth reading up on that if it survives the next day or so. HTH, George
Update. Sadly the finch died. There’s nothing obvious although I’ve kept it and will look more closely. My immediate thoughts were it was dehydrated and I noticed its beak wasn’t clean. Perhaps it had been regurgitating? I will pluck it and look for damage as I did think it could be shock. I’ve met the sparrow hawk twice! It flew into me last summer!
Yes sounds like its tricho. As they cannot swallow food or drink sufficient water because the organism in the crop stops it going to the birds stomach.I would bury it 6 inches deep in the garden. Thanks for sharing, George
We have had diseased greenfinches in the garden from time to time recently. We also have regular visits from the sparrowhawks .Could you tell me ,please, if the disease can be transmitted to the hawk if it eats an infected finch?
Hi jan, I believe it would take quite a few for this to happen.. Thanks for sharing look up frounce re birds of prey. HTH G
Thank you for the advice.”Founce” ,as a term ,is new to me. The information on the website was very useful, particularly about the need to dry out all the feeding /watering equipment in addition to disinfecting.
I’ll need a spare set of everything now.
Well Christmas is coming.
That’s how I get my feeders Jan!! Cheers, George
I am not quite sure who I am speaking to (George?) but nevertheless hi.
Read the article with interest. We have just lost 4 greenfinches in the space of 4 days. One at the back of the house, another around the front of the house (panting heavily or seemed to be) and two today directly under the bird feeder. We have feed birds for 35 years and have had no issues. We recently bought a new feeder that has a base and a surround to keep the food in and we noticed the food lies in water after heavy rain (so I drilled four holes in the base to allow evacuation). We feed the birds sunflower seeds peanuts from different feeders and fat balls – and here I think lies the problem. I followed your advice and I am ashamed to say I collected about 5 kilos of food from the garden floor that was congealed because of the fat that had fallen. We have decided to give up on fat balls since they do not seem to last. We live in France and the quality of fat ball is not the same. In the UK they never broke up (but times could change) but here once they are reduced by 50% they just fall apart on end up on the floor. We thought nothing of it because we could see other types of birds feeding on the ground.
Also you mention different types of birds like different types of feeders. Have you any information on this? We used to live in the Auvergne in central France and we could have 20 different species of bird in the garden feeding at the same time. The diversity was amazing but alas here in Brittany we do not have the same variety Thanks John
Will email you John. Cheers, George
Spotted a sparrow sitting next to our fatball feeder that seems to match your description of Trichomonosis. Will monitor it over next few days. If the bird is taken by our cat, can the cat be infected? Picture here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/lViijrAGxk4JVC7I3
No the cat won’t be troubled. Will check out photo later cheers George
Hi, interesting article. I am studying to become an avian vet and have been studying for many years. I feed the wild birds several times a day and everything is cleaned several times a week. Over the years I have seen many sick birds turn up with various issues but it is the ones who fly off and never return are most likely the ones who do not survive. I treat the water every now and then with harkankers since we get a lot of pigeons and doves who are notorious for carrying and psreading the canker desease. the dosage is the same for a small bird as it is for a large bird. I treat the water for 5 days strait then change it back to normal fresh water. many of the birds I have cought over the years out there have been found to have a veriety of illnesses of which 99.9% were cured. Coccidiosis, parasitit worms such as tape worm, ring worm, gizzard worm were found at times, parasitic mites including feather mite, air sac mite and blood mite have been found. I have even found some birds to have ticks on them which were safely removed. When ever I manage to capture a sick bird the first thing I do is check their body weight and feel down their breast bone to make sure it doesnt feel sharp, sharpness indicates loss of weight. I fully check their stools/droppings under an electron microscope for anything unsual. A lot of the birds I find are just hungry and are in need of a good feed up during winter periods and kept warm to be released when it gets a little warmer. I don’t waste time taking birds to a vet because due to their lack of time and money they more often than not just put the birds to sleep where as I have all the time in the world for them and I feel my success rate is far higher than theirs. If you however do see a sick bird in your garden, try to capture it and put it in a small cage/box well away from kids and other pets. keep it warm preferrable about 80 – 85 degrees F. this is why many sick birds fluff up because they are cold and are trying to conserve body heat. DO NOT FEED ANY BIRD BREAD OR MILK EVER, it will make them sick or even kill them. Do not contact any vet, look for a local bird rescue group and they will usually come and collect the bird right away and the bird will have a far better chance of survival. These rescue groups are fantastic and dedicate ALL their time to helping birds usually at their own expence so if you want to offer them a donation when they collect it is up to you but they will never ask for it.
Hi Dion, Thank you for sharing this interesting and very useful information.Good luck with your studies. Cheers, George
Thanks for sharing Dion. Cheers, G
Hi I’m so glad I found this page. Overr the last month i have had 5 male and 6 female bullfinches visit my garden with redpoles siskins and goldfinches,2 days ago I had a female fluffed up in the morning found her dead on the path,yesterday a male was fluffed up this morning there was a male dead on the parh. Both had food round their beaks and were thin when dead. I always clean water and food stations but have at least 4 wood pigeons that turn up daily how do I prevent losing anymore bullfinches? 🙁
Hi Teresa, Aw! Basically, keep your feeders, table, the ground underneath same, clean.Try to educate your neighbours as well, many people simply are not aware of disease etc., and may be grateful you mentioned it to them. I will be writing an updated article about this, so keep looking at my site.HTH, George
Tragically we are seeing more and more finches dying from this parasite in our garden. Would it be kinder to euthanise sick birds rather than let them die slowly and spread the parasite to other finches?
Tough call that. I would seek advice first from BTO Garden BirdWatch re this. They may say stop feeding to allow fit birds to disperse. HTH, Cheers George
I saw two greenfinches last year on my feeders without realising what I was seeing. Have just seen a greenfinch and a goldfinch in the last couple of weeks and now know what is the problem. I will do the hygiene and spreading out suggestions. Am also going to try some homeopathy which can go in water and will not damage unaffected birds. Will pass it on if I have anything useful. Possibly the remedy Syph, or Merc, which if it were a human with those symptoms around a parasitic infestation would work. This is North Yorkshire. It’s not a dense human population but I do get a lot of small birds so while my birds are probably not at risk from other tables, it means it’s down to me, I’m afraid.
Good on you Alison. Glad my work is noticed! Let me know how you get on pls. Thanks, for sharing, George
We live in rural Cumbria and have literally hundreds of birds (25 different species have been recorded).We took in a very sick female Chaffinch last night who sadly didn’t make it through the night. I suspect that I’ve just seen another female behaving in a similar way to the one we just lost. All the symptoms described in this article seem to match the symptoms displayed in the bird we just lost. We’re going to all out to move feeding stations and clean the areas around them. We are hygienic with individual feeders but if we’re honest, not with the areas we site them.
Hi Marty, Yes clean the area underneath your feeders as well as the feeders. This will help as will telling your neighbours, friends etc and pointing them to this website information. Thanks for sharing, George
We lost a second female chaffinch yesterday. I’ve moved the feeding stations and am now using plastic trays for ground feeding that can be cleaned regularly, rather than scattering food on the ground itself. I know you’re always going to end up with food on the ground itself, but it won;t be as much as with regular moving around of the feeders, it won;t get a chance to accumulate to disease inducing levels hopefully.
I have read through all these comments and replies with interest – and no little sadness. We too have been plagued with the trichomonosis disease invading for the most part the chaffinch population in our garden. We have suffered with the problem for about 3 years now always following the advice to stop feeding for at least 4 – 6 weeks. Although religiously keeping to the regime including on the last occasion stopping all winter and only restarting mid February, within a couple of weeks or so the first signs of a poorly bird appears. We live in a rural location with very few feeders within 3 miles or more and our flock of birds – chaffinch, goldfinch, sparrow, all the tits, siskin plus blackbirds – are either full-time resident or arrive for the season and remain within close proximity. This lack of other feeding stations makes me wonder whether the disease is endemic among the population generally within the area as no amount of fasting and cleaning seems to make any lasting difference. With an almost impossible realistic chance of treating the volume of our birds (we have literally over a 100 at once at times) I have started to carry out a ‘catch and cull’ to at least reduce the immediate risk of contamination and hope that perhaps early removal of sick birds from the arena may help. All very sad!
Aw! That is sad. Thanks for sharing this information though.George
We used to have a lot a green finches visit our garden/feeders, for a couple of years now we never see any and asking friends it seems we have none in the Saltdean to Newhaven area..are there any in Sussex ?
Janis, I expect there are although for more information I would contact the BTO
I have just seen a gold finch acting strangely and is very fat. I clean and move the bird feeders regularly etc. and this is the first time I’ve seen anything like this. I can have up to 30 gold finches at a time on my feeders so I am worried this will spread. I also have 2 male and 2 female green finches who visit regularly and I really don’t want them to get sick. I am hoping they will nest near by and bring their young to my garden to feed in the summer.
It’s a difficult call, Judith. Perhaps tell your friends and neighbours to clean their feeders. If you stop feeding ‘your’ birds, they will disperse to your neighbours 🙁
I posted above a couple of years ago. I did the hygiene and moving tactics, and eventually stopped feeding through a spring and summer, picking it up again only in winter. The nearest neighbour is several hundred yards away, so I’m fortunate. I haven’t seen any more affected birds (though my fingers are crossed). What I did change was my sunflower heart feeders, which are the main pull for the finches; now I’ve got ones from which dropped seed falls to the floor. The ground feeders include pigeon and pheasant, the occasional partridge and blackbirds. I sincerely hope they aren’t vulnerable. Some of the little birds do use the ground but I make sure that I’m sparse with the feeding until everything is gone so it’s pretty quickly cleared up. I hope that will minimise finch beak to beak contact with individual seeds.
Alison, It is mainly finches it affects re bird feeders. see http://bit.ly/2S1cvO7
Thank you for the link to the information sheet.
my pleasure. Cheers George
Just picked up a greenfinch from our terrace (France) as it appeared moribund and the cat was near it. I put in on a branch near the feeder in the beech tree, but 20 minutes later it had fallen out, on its back but still breathing, so had to put it out of its misery. We have man y young families of greenfinch, chaffinch, goldfinch, sparrows and redstarts, and pigeons have started a nest in the fir tree, Should I remove it before they lay eggs?
Poor little bird, it is so distressing.
Difficult call Anne. Perhaps discourage them to nest? Cheers George
Hello George. I am in Melton Mowbray and have loads of greenfinches, goldfinches and chaffinches in my garden every day. Yesterday we had 8 greenfinches at the same time as well as goldfinches and other birds. I cannot believe how busy the garden is with all these wonderful birds. Sadly I have found 3 dead greenfinches lately……and after reading up about the horrid virus I am worried about continuing to feed the birds. We do clean the feeders regularly and I hose down under the feeders every day. Any advice please George?. I would hate the birds to come and see their disappointment when food sink longer there. Thankyou….regards. Miranda
Difficult call Miranda. I clean my bird feeders et al but what about your neighbours? Direct them to my website re this killer disease to make more people aware. Cheers George
Can you recommend an eco friendly disinfectant I could use on my bird feeder?
There are loads to choose from just do an internet search Matthew. Cheers George
We had 2 Bullfinches die of ‘Fat finch” a couple of years ago and then one last week,Yesterday we had a Linnet appear with the same signs (have not seen a Linnet in the garden for many years We are plagued by 3 wood pigeons who we suspect are the problem, how can we keep them away from our feeder?.
I have a great solution which for me works. I will show you when I get some time to make the film so keep checking my website Lyn. Cheers George NN
I started feeding birds about four years ago. In the first year I started to notice fat finch which took two goldfinches. I took the feeders down and after three weeks I put them back up again and lost a male and female bullfinch.
Cleaning feeders regularly is a good way to reduce the spread but that does not help when neighbours don’t. It is difficult to administer to wild birds but not impossible.
I tentatively tried Ronidazole and included a small amount into a spray gun. Once a day I give the feeders a good soak (when I have just filled them).
The birds are fine. I have not had a case for over two years. I have seen early stages but I am pretty sure it gets dealt with as there has been no advanced stages or fatalities or reduction of birds visiting (45 species to date). And Pigeons and doves visit my garden.
Colin, I would contact Garden Wildlife Health https://www.gardenwildlifehealth.org
as this disinfectant may work so give them an email with your findings. Thanks for sharing, George NN