Aussie Finch Forum

HI all , just a curious question so I thought I would post this here. In the last few weeks I have lost a masked finch, red brow and yet another crimson chat and a few weeks earlier a scarlet chested parrot , 3 of those 4 have red on it. Coincidence or not.

Upon the finding of 2 of these birds yesterday , red brow and chat I notice when I had them in the container a insect coming from them that looked liked a smallish tick with wings. My instant reaction was to squash it so no pics sorry but a lot of blood did come from the bug. While doing some research last night I found that frog mouths have a louse on them . A few birds have had night frights in the last few months all while I have been using the black light. So yesterday I turned it off and now will make a moth trap to work up at the house to avoid night frights . Just incase I am attracting more than I wish for as I have a hard enough time with Gos hawks that cause trouble when stop feeding the wild bronze wings ( not near the aviaries) .

Most of my aviaries are one third open roof or half /half , fully enclosing is not an option at his point and I do live next to a nature reserve which could bring all sorts of unwanted.

But my question is would those lice /louse be enough to slowly kill a bird that small, another suggestion is worms with the small amount of rain we have had and the cold . That issue I am dealing with today while its fine here in Perth as I am perplexed ( big of the day for me ) about the whole thing ,as this is the 3rd male chat I have lost in the past few years and its driving me nuts. Any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. . . Pete

Pete,i have never been a great believer in open roofed aviaries for the reasons you have described,first wet cold days and you get all those nasties happening,coccidia,worm infections and mould and yeast infections.
I think you need to get a worming and baycox program going as soon as possible.I think the bugs you are talking about are opportunists on the floor that attack anything that's dead there.IMO Craig

Poitta,
I think your referring to the pigeon louse fly or Pseudolychia spp. and extract from Google: The pigeon louse fly, is a common ectoparasite of pigeons and doves. The louse flies (Hippoboscidae) are obligate blood-feeding ectoparasites of birds and mammals. Both adult males and females feed on the blood of their host. They are adapted for clinging to and moving through the plumage and pelage of their hosts. Strongly specialized claws help them cling to the hair or feathers of their particular host species. Pigeon flies retain their wings for their entire adult life. Others species are wingless (like sheep keds) or lose their wings once the newly emerged adults find a host (deer keds).

I am no expert but don't think these flies would kill a healthy bird. Sudden changes in weather and cold wet draughty aviaries would more likely be the cause.

On the worming thing, do it often, at least 1/4ly and baycox after wet weather and you should be right.

Most of the birds get a dose on ivermectin every year and wormed 3 times a year some times 4 . I have baycox here but never use it . I have also found lovely green mouse droppings in one seed dishes, the buggers must be parachuting in . It never ends...

But this last year I have a bit on my mind so things haven't been regular. Never really had a problem with worms but did have a problem with stick flea a few years ago that came in on some diamond doves before I moved here .So I dose everyone once, slow process but its done. It just seems weird that this year all I have lost are those birds currently and 2 crimson finch cock birds No hens of all things . Most of birds contain red in the plumage , mind your so does my diamonds , stars and red face parroties.so that significance does not matter I guess.

My flight cages are being re roofed in the next few months which will be a pain , but it has to be done as the wire is crap and the gradient of the roof is not to flash.
They will be fully covered with tin and alsenite so I can walk down the walkway so I don't get wet...Drafts are not an issue all those aviaries affected had goulds in them one time or another .Plus the old fool that lives here keeps turning the electric fence / hot wire around the top off but that's another matter .

I have many an issue I need to rectify, I just have to start with easier ones I guess... pete