Find out what Project FeederWatch is, its history, and more
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Review these instructions carefully before you count and enter data
Find out about types of feeders and types of foods, and where to place your feeder
Feeding Birds FAQs
Explore the winter distribution, food, and feeder preferences of common feeder birds.
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Unusual Birds Gallery
Find out about bird disease and identifying the signs of bird disease
Sick Birds Gallery
Find out how to identify birds and download identification tools
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Find an article archive packed with lots of great bird study information
Learn about house finch eye disease
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Cornell Lab of Ornithology feeders
Ontario (winter only)
See what birds occur the most by region
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Graphs of regional population trends and distributions
Explore papers that have used FeederWatch data
Lab scientists analyze the data submitted by FeederWatch participants.
See birds well outside their winter range submitted to Project FeederWatch.
Start here for data entry and personal data review and exploration
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Amy Wescott
Pecatonica, Illinois, United States
A single House Finch sat alone with puffed up feathers nibbling at seed in my feeder. It perched on the feeder not moving too much for about an hour and had one runny, puffy looking eye. This same bird has been seen at my feeders for about 16 days so far and still has the bad looking eye.
Eye problems
House Finch with House Finch Eye Disease
Today is Labor Day. Saw a reddish puffed up house finch on my finch feeder. It let me get close and was not frightened. Another bird came along & knocked it off – it landed on the ground and was picking nyjer off the ground. It was also chirping a lot. Don’t know if a baby or sick. I took good pictures I can e-mail. If sick I can take my feeders down. Please advise.
Hello Christina, thanks for reaching out. Whenever a sick bird comes to your feeder, we recommend that you remove the feeders the sick bird is using for a couple of weeks to ensure that disease is not being spread at your feeders and to give birds a chance to disperse. While the feeders are down clean your feeders and feeder area thoroughly. Remember that prevention is the key to avoiding the spread of disease. Regularly clean your feeders even when there are no signs of disease. Feel free to check out the Sick Birds and Bird Diseases section of our website for more info.
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