What's wrong with this Brown Thrasher? *Caution..disturbing*

[Duane N]

I have seen this Brown Thrasher around my yard since the spring with it's beak like this. It has obviously survived this long since I noticed it and it seems to act like a normal Thrasher. It was quite brave today as it came within 10' of me sitting on the deck when I tossed some bread out...either it's used to me or it's very hungry.

Scroll down to view the image but it's an unpleasant site...



















































Is there anything I can do for it or a better type of food I can feed it? I put out black oil sunflour seeds in a feeder, some bread and some apple chunks each day. I may start making the portions smaller because it had difficulty eating the bread but it kept breaking off chunks by stabbing the best it could.

[canonloader]

One of the forms of Avian Pox. Google it. I think there is a cure, but I also think this has gone too far. I have seen Great Blues and Pelicans with damaged beaks been rebuilt with fiberglass and resin though, so it might be possible, with enough money or a rehab place willing to take it on.

Beaks are like bones. The outside is covered with ceratin, like your fingernail stuff and the inner part is like marrow, it's alive and does grow out like a fingernail. Maybe if it was cured of the pox and helped along, the peak would grow out more normal.

If it likes apples, then give it some thick applesauce, maybe on the bread. Find out what it eats. If they eat bugs, maybe get it some meal worms or even crickets, once you get it to come to your hand. Never give birds anything with milk in it though.

[Duane N]

Thanks Mitch....I passed the pic along to a person on another forum and she is going to send it to the wildlife center that is taking care of the local Eaglet I have photographed. Hopefully they can tell me what's best for it.

[canonloader]

Poor thing. I hate seeing this kind of thing.

[alohabob]

Also, The bread should be whole grain unprocessed. Applesauce should be without sugar. Watch for all that 'un-natural' foods wild animals shouldn't be getting. They need the real thing with the real nutrition! Organic if possible as well.
Good luck!

[Sindri Skulason]

Ouch....

[Redrib]

Poor fella, makes me sad to see it but am glad you are watching out for him Duane.

[Normcar21]

Thanks for sharing this, it looks like it's body is very healthy so I'd wager a guess that this particular bird is handling the problem well. From the neck up it appears to be in really bad shape, but from the neck down it looks very healthy indeed! Good luck to the little critter, and great post!

[downywp]

Poor thing... p.s. I hope he will be okay and you're a good person to take such good care of him, please let us know how he's doing and if you find out anything from the wildlife ctr...I am not an expert but it looks more like a beak deformity, here's a link to a study that was done in Alaska http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/landbirds/beak_deformity/images/NOCR1_Jack_Whitman_med.jpg&imgrefurl=http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/landbirds/beak_deformity/species.html&h=261&w=400&sz=14&hl=en&start=13&um=1 &tbnid=dVPUJQHqyIhpFM:&tbnh=81&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbeak%2Bdeformities%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den %26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-USfficial%26sa%3DN

[Duane N]

I received an E-mail back from the wildlife center....this is more of just a reminder to clean your feeders folks....but it's not the reason the bird is like this. Pretty much nothing I can do other then keep an eye on it, feed it if it's around and keep my feeder clean.

E-Mail:

We've seen several cases this year with the same presentation but with
different species. This does look like a classic chronic case of avian
pox in songbirds. My guess (based on experience with other passerines)
is that the pox lesion interrupted the growth plate and caused the
deviation that you see here. Much like the Norfolk eagle, the main
lesion has likely fallen off and now the bird is left with the altered
anatomy. As the lesion is likely chronic, it shouldn't be infectious to
other birds so I wouldn't worry about your bird feeder more than normal.
All bird feeders should be cleaned at least every 2-4 weeks with a 5%
bleach solution in order to reduce numbers of other pathogens such as
Salmonella and Mycoplasma (causes conjunctivitis in House Finches). At
this point, the question is whether the bird can feed itself. If the
bird is approaching you for food, my guess is that the body condition is
pretty poor and the bird is desperate. Putting food out for it may be an
option but fall migration and feeding on the wintering grounds are out
of your control.
At this point my advice would be to wait and let nature take its course.
This is a natural disease and there are fatalities every year. If the
bird can survive, it will likely have lifelong immunity and may even be
able to pass these traits on to young in future years.

Dave McRuer, M.Sc., DVM

[canonloader]

Yeah, I'm a big softee for these things. I would make friends with it and keep it through the winter.

[black_z]

Originally Posted by Duane N

I received an E-mail back from the wildlife center....this is more of just a reminder to clean your feeders folks....but it's not the reason the bird is like this. Pretty much nothing I can do other then keep an eye on it, feed it if it's around and keep my feeder clean.

E-Mail:

We've seen several cases this year with the same presentation but with
different species. This does look like a classic chronic case of avian
pox in songbirds. My guess (based on experience with other passerines)
is that the pox lesion interrupted the growth plate and caused the
deviation that you see here. Much like the Norfolk eagle, the main
lesion has likely fallen off and now the bird is left with the altered
anatomy. As the lesion is likely chronic, it shouldn't be infectious to
other birds so I wouldn't worry about your bird feeder more than normal.
All bird feeders should be cleaned at least every 2-4 weeks with a 5%
bleach solution in order to reduce numbers of other pathogens such as
Salmonella and Mycoplasma (causes conjunctivitis in House Finches) .

Woah! I have been noticing some of my finches have some TERRIBLE looking eyes. One is nearly blind because of it. Could it possibly be my fault for not cleaning the feeder often enough?!

[canonloader]

Could it possibly be my fault for not cleaning the feeder often enough?!

No, not really. These birds are community birds, they congregate and rub on each other and their perches. In the last ten years, conjunctivitis has killed 60% of all the finches East of the Mississippi. It wouldn't hurt to just take them down though. I took mine down last year and just feed them sunflower seeds laid on a table outside. Haven't seen any sick ones this year.

[black_z]

I might take it down for a while... and DEFINITELY clean it real good!