Aussie Finch Forum

Hi, hope someone can help.
I recently had 3 stars fledge from the nest.
Two are fine however the third one out is twitching and almost convulsing with its neck bent in all sorts of positions.
The parents are still feeding it and occasionally it looks normal.
Could this be concussion from a night fright or some poisoning .
I find it strange that two are fine but the third one is not looking well at all.
Any advice would be great.
Regards .

I have seen birds with similar symptons-unfortunatley they were blind.
Maybe you could check for this.
Jack

Thanks Jack.
What is the likely hood of this bird surviving ?

I'm not quite sure but the condition sounds like what is variously termed Stargazing / Twirling or Torticollus. The jury is still out on the causes but there is probably a genetic component predisposing them to some form of environmental trigger (tetatogen, nutrition, toxin or infection). The condition often resolves itself but because of this suspected genetic predisposition affected birds should not be bred from or unwittingly passed onto those that may breed from them (sooner or later we all buy back our own genetic material). You can read more about Twirling here on AFF, Avian Web or Pet Care but don't believe everything you read.