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| House Finch Conjunctivitis |
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| Over the past three years, I've observed an increasing number of House Finches with Conjunctivitis. I've been aware that this is a growing problem and have only recently spotted more individuals than has been normal in my Troy, Missouri Back Yard. This page shows both healthy and infected individuals. Some images may be disturbing. |
| Shown above is a healthy male, with a healthy female shown at right. Both individuals were photographed in March 2009 at my back yard feeders.. |
| This female was photographed in our Bird Bath in October, 2008 The degree of infection was similar in both eyes. |
| The male photographed below visited our feeders for about two weeks during mid-March, 2009. There is marginal infection in his left eye, but as the enlargement shows, apparently, the infection has fully covered his right eye. |
| The male below was photographed on March 28, 2009. Both eyes were observed to have approximately the same degree of infection. The poor guy sat hunched in our spruce tree for quite some time then managed to weakly fly off into the woods. I don't believe that he could see well enough to fly effectively. |
| Fortunately, there are still significant numbers of healthy individuals present in the area. The House Finches usually number between seventy-five and one hundred individuals, year 'round. |
| These "common" little birds are gregarious and fun to have around, The fellow above is an fine example of a handsome male House Finch. |
| If anyone has any information on possible ways to help the infected birds, or suggestions as to how to keep non-infected birds healthy, please email me at the address below. Thanks! John Hitzeman Troy, MO |