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David Batten
Montrose, CO, United States
This female house finch either has a weird growth on the top of her head, or she is having a bad molt. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, my camera doesn’t have a manual focus, and can’t seem to focus on small things.
I saw the same of similar bird today. She was active and healthy looking except for the top knot, which didn’t look as big as in these pictures, and both eyes looked clear.
I also saw a male house finch yesterday with a more serious-looking apparent deformity on the top of his head, but was unable to get a camera in time, and didn’t see him again.
I apologize if it turns out to just be a molt.
Growths
The bird on the side of the feeder facing the camera, on the upper perch
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