Aussie Finch Forum

Hi, I have a 2y/o Normal yh gouldian in very healthy condition that has lost all flight coordination. I found him on aviary floor 2 days ago with no obvious injuries - just unable to fly in a straight line. Placed him in a small flight cage and he cannot fly from perch to perch without missing his target perch ???
Any ideas ??
Rip64

Hmm that's odd, maybe he's gone blind??

Have you ever seen gouldians "twirling" their heads before?
Have a search on the net and see if it looks similar?

I have heard air sack mite may be resposible.

Good luck

My guess is ( Going by other birds I have had with the same symptoms) is that it has partially or completely lost vision in one or both eyes. Check to see if it is able to see seed to eat it and if you can see any cloudiness in either eye.

Sounds like "twirling" to me. Ray, I always thought it was a genetic problem. The only one I ever had was about 10 years ago - an older cock bred within a large gouldian colony. I suspect there was too much inbreeding going on within the colony as I only ever added a few new cocks each year.

Twirling is quite a distinct behaviour. The birds seem to "twirl" their heads repeatedly-the movement seems like a stereotypic behaviour.
Contrary to what has been written on the internet, the causes are all variable. It appears that the same part of the brain is affected, but a variety of bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi have been identified as causes.

If the bird is just misjudging distances then affected vision is more likely. Have a look at its eyes and look for any white films or spots on the surface of the eye, or deeper inside the eye.

Again there are lots of different potential causes depending on where the problem is on the eye. But if it is affecting its ability to judge distances I would be suspicious that both eyes are affected, which suggests an underlying systemic illness in the bird, rather than topical damage to just one eye.

Let us know how she goes.

Further to my initial post this bird has been set aside with 3 different NYH hens and failed to mate with any - granted the first may have been age related (<12 old). Does this mean anything ???

if not twirling, could be simply muscle cramps??
I had a cordon who got muscle cramps and couldn't fly for 3 days just sat on the floor looking healthy and happy. 4th day he was up and about again. he didn't like me examining (stretching) his wing...

Low in calcium. Put him in a cage with calcium supplement in his water and see how he is in 24-48 hours. More common in hens but can also happen in older cocks. Assuming it's not blindness in one eye of course.