Sick Bird: Brown Thrasher with growth on cheek
Additional images:
Brown Thrasher with growth on right cheek and what appears to be a scar from the same growth on the right. The growth on the right may have effected the birds right eye as it is no longer round and appears flattened.
Categories: Growths
Species: Brown Thrasher
Comments
7 comments on “Sick Bird: Brown Thrasher with growth on cheek”
I have a brown thrasher with a swollen cheek at my feeder. Is it contagious?
I just lost a Brown Thrasher in my yard that had one on each leg they were very large what are they And what causes them to get the growth?
I have a baby brown thrasher that came onto my screened porch – growth or blister under its eye. What is happening?
Hello Natalie, there is no way to tell for sure what the growth on your Brown Thrasher is caused by without examination by a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or veterinarian. 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, and make sure to clean your feeders thoroughly.
I have maybe two brown thrasher with swollen checks. I had to take down the tray feeder they have been using along with the suet balls. I found this site, and hope I don’t have other birds to get sick. It’s been about a week since I’ve seen the swollen cheeks. One side of one bird has busted The other side is still swollen.
I am in SE Pennsylvania. I have a brown thrasher with the same sort of swelling/tumors? on both cheeks. I don’t think it has anything to do with birdfeeders, as thrashers generally feed in the yard.
This is a follow up comment on my earlier sighting of a brown thrasher with growths on both cheeks. Last week one of the growths appeared to be gone and today both are cleared. I can see very minor scarring, and I know it’s the same bird because it follows the same routine every day. I suspect it may be something like a botfly. I don’t know but the thrasher is not adversely affected at this point
I’ve seen a similar cheek and leg condition on wild mockingbirds (in 2020 and 2025) and one long-billed thrasher (in 2018) in San Antonio, TX over the past few years. Very swollen and fleshy forming huge blister on the facial skin, and a very thick dark swelling ruptering on the leg making it difficult to use the foot. The mockingbirds seemed worse affected, maybe because they are just so much more visible and it eas easy to track the condition worsening over time. Both a parent and a juvenile died, making it seem like it could spread between birds. I wondered if it was some kind of mite as these birds don’t attend feeders; one was in a park; hoping it is a mite or insect vector, at least, since it might spread less easily. In the meantime I’ve taken down my water.