Poorly pidgeon

[Walker570]

Saw a woodie in my wood this morning sitting all ruffled up and did not fly until I approached it, then only up onto a nearby branch. Didn't look happy at all.

I didn't have the air rifle with me or I would have dispatched it.   It managed to fly into a neighbours field but very weak on the wing. ????????????

Just a bit worrying with bird flu rampant.   This is west Leicestershire

[Spr1985]

Could it be the consumption of to many acorns? What’s the land like for oaks? Obviously a stab in the dark but you never know. 

[oowee]

I have found several dead and evidence of others eaten. I even had one fall out of a tree at night. No obvious marks. 

[Ultrastu]

I've seen quite a few recently 

Found on in my garden that my dog just picked up .

Others in fields or on the side of the road I suspect bird flew .

Could be in for a few lean decoying years 

[marsh man]

Not really unusual to find the odd dead or sick bird under normal conditions , but sadly around these parts the bird life is far from normal conditions , only speaking to our keeper this morning about our first shoot this coming Saturday and he confirmed the few dead Pheasants that were found on the shoot were reported to DEFRA and they were positive to the Bird Flu , we can continue with the shoot ( for the time being ) as the chap who came out was saying if the bird had the strength to fly it was a good possibility that the bird was free from the virus , he also said that if any of the picker uppers found any dead cold birds to leave them and not take them back to the game larder.

Worrying times for shoots , keepers and there lively hood  

[Fellside]

Happens every time there’s a big crop of beech mast. Someone did explain to me why overconsumption of beech mast effects them - but I can’t honestly remember the science. Last time there was a big beech fruiting, I found some sick ones. 

Let’s hope it’s just that anyway….?!

[old'un]

28 minutes ago, oowee said:

I have found several dead and evidence of others eaten. I even had one fall out of a tree at night. No obvious marks. 

any signs of pigeon canker? its been very wide spread this last few years and usually around autumn.

[ditchman]

every year there is a post about this sort of happening............it seems to be seasonal  always round about this time of year...wether it is a desease or over consumption of a food availble ...we have never come to a conclusion

[old'un]

7 minutes ago, ditchman said:

every year there is a post about this sort of happening............it seems to be seasonal  always round about this time of year...wether it is a desease or over consumption of a food availble ...we have never come to a conclusion

most of the birds I have found in our garden or out walking or shooting have got pigeon canker, which is easy to spot.

[oowee]

50 minutes ago, old'un said:

most of the birds I have found in our garden or out walking or shooting have got pigeon canker, which is easy to spot.

I would not know what to look for. Other than to say they looked to be normal healthy birds. It was limited to a few fields of around 200 acres. 

[Gas seal]

Could be acorns a farmer told me that acorns can make horses sick. I don’t think woodpigeon catch bird flu but they are carriers. The government said not to feed shot wild birds to birds of prey. I see dead pigeons this time of the year it must be acorns or some type of berries that they are eating. We used to think that they choked on the acorns when they had a crop full ..

[old'un]

36 minutes ago, oowee said:

I would not know what to look for. Other than to say they looked to be normal healthy birds. It was limited to a few fields of around 200 acres. 

Birds appear lethargic, weak flight, feathers ruffled up, yellow like growths in throat, and eventually death…..but not always, some birds are carries and show very little effect of the disease.

Easiest way to spot it is looking down the throat for any yellow growth.

[old'un]

1 hour ago, Gas seal said:

Could be acorns a farmer told me that acorns can make horses sick. I don’t think woodpigeon catch bird flu but they are carriers. The government said not to feed shot wild birds to birds of prey. I see dead pigeons this time of the year it must be acorns or some type of berries that they are eating. We used to think that they choked on the acorns when they had a crop full ..

Not sure about pigeon and bird flu.

Migratory waterfowl, most notably wild ducks are the natural reservoir of bird flu viruses, ducks are also the most resistant to infection and develop only mild and short-lived illness themselves but the highly pathogenic form they can carry is so virulent that one gram of infected bird excrement can contain enough highly pathogenic virus to infect 100,000 birds…. Frightening.

 

Edit-

just found this snippet about pigeons.

Experimental work in 2001/2002, has shown that pigeons infected with the highly pathogenic form of the virus (designated H5N1 of Hong Kong origin) did not develop signs of this disease and did not have detectable changes to the disease in their tissues. Neither was the virus found in their tissues and nor was it re-isolated from swabs of tissues. These findings indicated once again that pigeons (along with starlings, rats and rabbits used in these studies) are largely resistant to infection with this highly pathogenic strain of the virus.

Edited October 27, 2022 by old'un

[gmm243]

3 hours ago, Fellside said:

Happens every time there’s a big crop of beech mast. Someone did explain to me why overconsumption of beech mast effects them - but I can’t honestly remember the science. Last time there was a big beech fruiting, I found some sick ones. 

Let’s hope it’s just that anyway….?!

This happens with us.

Find them wandering around with sort of spongy infected mouth and throat.  Would not be able to fly out of your way.Usually find it later in the year when they have been feeding on beech mast fir a month or so.

[Walker570]

Would a badly sown field of grain treated with fungiside or some such have an effect. Just had the field next door sown and then sprayed, probably a pre emergence.

The crows are hammering it every morning so has to be a lot of grain still on the surface as they have been there for a week at least.    No beech trees around here so not that. A few oaks but not a large number.

The bird was sat all fluffed up head/neck tucked in.  Was not happy for sure.

[Gas seal]

Pigeon canker is spread in the drinking water . When I kept pigeons it was important to change the water every day and keep the loft clean. We would add a medication to the water to stop the canker. The pigeon you described sounds like it has canker,I’ve seen it in woodpigeon and feral pigeons. I think it’s a type of virus.