Categorised Articles
Avian Pox in Thornham
- Details
- Category: Welcome
- Published on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 17:17
- Written by The Thorn
- Hits: 83
Over the Christmas period we found a Great Tit struggling to stay in one of our bird-feeders whilst a male chaffinch tried to bully it – finally succeeding in pushing the bird over the edge. The bird was curiously easy to pick up, and found to have a warty growth where its’ left eye should have been. As the bird was ‘ringed’, we filled out an online report with the British Trust for Ornithology (www.bto.org) who run a ringing scheme, which generates information on the survival, productivity and movements of birds. Unfortunately the bird died some hours later.
Of concern is this bird had avian pox – apparently the BTO have noticed an increased number of cases of this disease amongst Great Tits in particular. Infected birds develop tumour-like growths which make them vulnerable to attack. The virus may be spread by insect bites, from bird to bird, or via contaminated feeding stations. The virus apparently can survive for long periods outside of its host – however, if feeding stations are regularly disinfected using a dilute solution of bleach, this will reduce the rate of infection. Those with bird feeders are recommended to clean their feeders weekly to help break this cycle.
Detailed information about avian pox can be read at the following link. www.bto.org/sites/default/files/u23/downloads/pdfs/disease_avianpox_factsheet_2011.pdf
If you spot any affected birds, the BTO collects survey data to monitor the spread of the disease at www.surveymonkey.com/s/disease_in_birds
Also of note is that a number of local residents keep chickens and other poultry – at this point, it is unknown to what extent other bird species may be affected – there are different strains of avian poxvirus – so poultry owners are urged to prevent their captive birds from accessing wild bird feeders and wild bird baths if at all possible.
