Sick Bird at Your Feeder? 6 Signs to Watch For (And What a Bird Store Owner Does NEXT)

After 30 years running a wild bird store in Michigan, I had more than one customer come to my counter close to tears over a house finch with a crusted, swollen eye. Nearly every one had filled the feeder right to the top, so that poor bird wouldn't go hungry. That full feeder is what I'd change. In this video: 1. A red, swollen, runny or crusty eye (house finch eye disease) 2. A bird that's fluffed up, sleepy and sitting hunched (salmonellosis) 3. A bird that lets you walk right up to it 4. Wart-like growths on the bare skin (avian pox) 5. A bird rubbing its eye on the perch, or hunting for seed on the ground 6. More than one sick bird, or a dead bird, at the same feeder 7. What I do next, in order: when to take the feeder down, how to clean a bird feeder with bleach and water, and when to call a wildlife rehabilitator What state or province are you watching from, and did the siskins or redpolls flood your feeders some winter? Tell me in the comments. If you're the one the neighbors call when a bird looks wrong, subscribe, so that when a bird in your yard looks off, you already know what to look for. If you take part in Project FeederWatch, report the sick birds in your counts. FeederWatch thinks this eye disease touches only about five to ten percent of eastern house finches, so the finch with the crusted eye is the exception at your feeder, and a clean port is how you keep it that way. #SickBirds #BirdFeeders #BackyardBirds #FeederWatch