What's wrong with this bird?

Captain Jack

Captain Jack

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On the way out of work, I noticed a sparrow sat on our gate. As I had to shut the gate, I thought I would move the bird by shooing it away. But it wasn't really responding to me - just opened its eyes and closed them again. So, I picked it up and moved it. It seemed very unresponsive and looked like it was falling asleep or... worse!?

Maybe it was hit by a car - it obviously had enough strength to fly up on the gate... Was quite upsetting :(

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Rolf is the birdy expert - but could it have been stunned by flying into a nearby window?

As long as they arent actually hurt they will often sit around for a while recovering then fly off - Ive seen that a few times here when they crash into our living room windows.
 
That's a juvenile Chaffinch and looks like it may be suffering from Trichomonosis, it's a parasite which lives in the digestive tract and eventually prevents them from feeding, so they starve to death. You can normally tell by looking around the beak, as there will be a waxy deposit, their plumage will be dull and they'll be lethargic. We've had cases down here with Wood Pigeons and a few years back it wiped out the Greenfinch population, to the degree that we rarely see one now.

If you see more cases, best is to stop feeding and empty trays and bird baths, as this is where it spreads.
 
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I've also seen this in greenfinces on our bird tray. They appear slightly dosy,try to feed but cant really swallow and appear slightly fluffy. I watched one keel over on our shed once,fell off and the neighbours cat pick it up off the ground and walked off with it.
 
Also worthwhile letting your local RSPB know, as they try and keep a tally of birds and species affected by the disease, if you find a dead bird, they will come and pick it up to make tests on it.
 
He just found out he can't afford (the) Sky and learned he has to walk from now on...he's depressed.
Anyone see my coat....?
 
Showed the picture to my girlfriend and she said it appears a bit bloated. A sign of this disease?

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Had bird problems of my own the other day ..when my cat Peppa brought a bird home in its mouth ..
The poor little sod was flapping it's wings and making a terrible noise ...
Grabbed a bucket of water and threw it over Peppa ..who dropped the bird from her mouth..and ran off.
I feared the worse ...but picked up the terrified bird and examined it as best I could..
wings appeared ok ...neck not broken...and no blood in evidence.
So held it for a while till it went calm ...then went for a walk about 100 yds away from the house an popped the bird on a wall and watched it for a while.
Still bright eyed ...and able to stand upright...then it hopped off the wall into some bushes.
No idea if it survived as I couldn't follow it...
At least it had a chance...fingers crossed it was merely stunned and scared shitless.
Cats will be cats..but I felt sick watching it thrash about in Peppas jaws.
 
According to a work colleague, the bird was still moving yesterday evening. This morning, however, it has sadly passed away :( It's in a dignified position though - seems like it just passed away sitting down.

Not nice at all..... and put me in a bad mood :(
 
Sad, as you can become attached to them, still worthwhile letting the local RSPB know, as they need to know if there are outbreaks in their area.
 
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