Hi!
As I was sitting here watching the birds at my feeder, I decided I need someone to talk to!

I have a resident group of house finches who are constantly at my feeder filled with sunflower seeds, and I have some questions.

1. I just discovered that some of them have conjunctivitis. Now I know that they've had it for years. I always thought they were pecking at each other's eyes when they squabbled at the feeder. Don't know what to do. There are so MANY of them. (Not so many infected, just a lot of birds.) The goldfinches usually leave the sunflower seeds alone and feed at their upside-down thistle feeder, but pine siskins and titmice like the s.f. seeds. I'd hate to see them get the disease.

2. I think I have a YELLOW house finch. A few minutes ago, I got a really good look at him. He has all the characteristics of a house finch except that he's yellow instead of red!

Looking forward to opinions,

celsiana

Hi Celsiana...Cornell is studying conjunctivitis in House finches and Goldfinches. I haven't figured out how to add a link to this message board yet, so the web site is www.birds.cornell.edu Then just look for House Finch Disease Survey. I don't think the disease spreads from the finches to other birds. At least, I haven't found any reference to that. I had several finches with bad eyes two years ago, but none now. I think it just ran its course. It was a pitiful thing to see and know I could do nothing to help. The statistics from the Survey show that its dying down in some parts of the country and flaring up in others. I think the harsh winter we had two years ago probably did in the infected birds I was seeing. Poor things were so defenseless.

I looked thru my field guides for your yellow finch...I found one called a Lesser Goldfinch, but they're usually further west than Michigan. I love eNature.com for researching birds and listening to their songs. I wonder if your bird might be some kind of a warbler. Lots of yellow in that family. Good luck...it would drive me nuts till I found out what it was... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi Bayberry,
Thanks for your reply!

I did find the information on the Cornell site.
So far I haven't seen any goldfinches who look like they've been infected. Here's hoping!

One poor little guy looked really sad. He was the reason I started searching for information. He was blind in his right eye and flight feathers were missing from his left wing, as if he had been caught by something. I walked right up to him before he flew away - awkwardly - to a big pine tree next door.

As for my yellow house finch, I looked all through my bird books for little yellow birds. Nothing resembles this bird. It's the same size as a house finch, same beak and tail, same markings. I'm trying to get a picture of it.
I'll try eNature.com.

celsiana

Just the other day I was telling you that I haven't seen any finches with bad eyes in 2 years, and I look on the feeder yesterday morning and....guess what <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> ...I noticed a male House finch with some fluff stuck to the side of his head and looked closer. Sure enough, he has one eye infected. I was really hoping not to see anymore of this awful condition. Two years ago I tried to catch a female with both eyes really bad, but she flew up into the tree and I never got another chance. I only live an hour from Cornell and would have taken it there, or to a really great wildlife rehab'er I know. I sure hope I don't start seeing an outbreak of it again.

I've seen one or two with both eyes infected, and yet they still seem to be able to see well enough to fly away.

Thanks for directing me to eNature. It gave me the answer to the yellow house finch. It said that juveniles might be orange or yellowish. We've had tons of house finches and even nests in full view on the porch, but I've never seen a yellow one before. I guess it happens though. He will probably darken as he matures and I'll never see my yellow house finch again.

celsiana

I'm glad you found out what your finch is, Celsiana. I love eNature, too. I thought your bird might be a Dickcissel, which I happen upon in my field guide, looking for something else. I'm going to start a new topic about the bird I was looking for and maybe someone will know the answer to my question.

I've been doing the Cornell projects for many years now and definitely something they've been very keen to know about is conjunctivitis in finches. I've been watching my finches very carefully but have never seen any with eye problems. I wondered if it was just a rare thing but it's sad to hear that many of you have seen this. The poor birds!

Yes, my finches LOVE thistle. Anyone who wants finches should just hang a thistle feeder or two out and watch them appear <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />