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James Stone
Burke, VA, USA
Photographed this female Northern Cardinal on 12/19/2020 at the base of my backyard feeder in Burke, VA. The photograph was taken from a second-floor window in my home through the glass and a screen, so the quality is very poor. It looked like this bird has a disease or altogether missing eye. I also so a male Northern Cardinal, same location and the same day, with a near-identical deformity, but was not quick enough o capture a photo. I always keep my feeders and area clean.
Eye problems
Female Northern Cardinal with eye deformity. 12/19/2020, Burke, VA, USA.
It looks identical to 6 cardinals i have seen at my birdbath. It is mycoplasmal conjunctivitis a bacterial disease that used to be considered to affect only house and purple finches. A local expert tells me an uptick in cardinals has been reported this year. The advice I am getting is to take down feeders and clean with a 10% bleach solution before rehanging, and do this about twice a month. If you see more than one or two sick birds, leave feeders down for a week or two to stop the spread. This website has good info on it, as does the following:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/plants-animals-and-ecosystems/wildlife-wildlife-habitat/wildlife-health/wildlife-health-documents/sick_birds_in_your_yard.pdf
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