Unusual Bird: Deformed claws and beaks on American Goldfinches
Additional images:
Three American Goldfinches were observed during this past weekend (2/1/2014) with some deformities of the cartilage in the beaks and claws. Should I be concerned that it is a disease that may spread to other birds?
Categories: Deformed bill
Comments
5 comments on “Unusual Bird: Deformed claws and beaks on American Goldfinches”
Wow, 5 years later but I have a lone goldfinch at my window feeder. She comes alone,not a flock. Her beak is dark but has a whitish matter, a deformity?, on either side. She sits in the seeds, not perched so claws aren’t visible. She takes a long time to eat. I talk low, she stops and listens. I want so to help her but I guess I’m doing that already.
I live on the Gulf, near the BP Disaster, and we’ve seen marine, bird and land mammals with deformities. (Most believed to arise from certain chems in the dispersant Corexit that was, in part, in illegal aerial of 2 million gallons night spraying
I had a sick goldfinch with a mal-formed beak at my feeder January 2019 in Albany, NY area. Poor thing couldn’t eat.
Feb 5 2024: A gold finish came to my winow feeder. The beck seems deformed (as if whiskers are coming off the beck) and it is very sluggish. It ate a little but is now just sitting in the feeder. It is eating again bu my guess is that it won’t last the night. At least it is safe from cats right now.
I should have said finch.