SoCalHummerLady
Active member
In June 2016, I had a juvenile male Anna's hummingbird who I thought might have cutaneous avian pox. It's a contagious disease that causes warty growths on unfeathered areas of birds, like feet, base of beak, around the eyes. Initially, I noticed him because his beak was unusually rough and thickened. I learned about avian pox when I was searching for info about what the cause might be.
In case cutaneous avian pox was the bird's problem, at that time I began a regimen of dunking all my feeder parts into a mild bleach solution during every other cleaning (and I clean the feeders every other day).
Today, I saw another bird who is definitely showing some very small warty growths on his upper legs - they look a little like tiny cauliflowers. So, I did a bit more reading about the cutaneous form of avian pox. It can spread if any of the growths have open spots or scabs that break off, with the virus that is in the lymph fluid inside the growths getting onto feeder perches and ports, then transferring to other birds who use those perches and feeder ports. The virus can also be transmitted by mosquitos, but those aren't a problem around here.
Apparently hummingbirds can survive with cutaneous avian pox for quite some time. The bad news is that the growths on the feet can increase to the point where the birds can't perch or if they're around the beak or eyes, they can't feed or see properly. On the other hand, it can progress very slowly or even regress if the warty growths dry up, scab up and then the scabs fall off, leaving behind scar tissue with no virus left. This form of avian pox is sometimes called "dry" avian pox.
I'm going to be doing the bleach dunks now every single time I clean the feeders every other day, now. A 10% bleach solution is recommended. My protocol is to clean the feeder parts (every part, including bottles!) in hot running water, first. Then I dunk all the parts into the bleach solution for a minute, along with the brushes and tools I use to clean the feeders with. Finally, I scrub the heck out of the feeder parts with a few drops of dish detergent and then rinse repeatedly with the hottest water I can manage until there is absolutely no scent of bleach left. The brushes and tools I just rinse with hot water for a minute or two.
I'm hoping that will be enough, although I'll start cleaning the feeders every day, if I decide I need to.
The best way of stopping the disease from spreading is to take down the feeders, but every other house on the street has feeders out. I can only try to prevent those birds who mostly spend their time in my yard from getting the disease. Although, I am thinking about making up a flyer about the disease, how to recognize it and combat it and distributing the flyer around my short street and the street behind me - I do see my birds fly over my back wall to those houses or birds from there come to my yard.
The first hummer who I thought might have avian pox is still around. I just saw him yesterday and he looks pretty good. He was possibly six months old when I first saw him and he now has all his adult plumage. Beak is still rough and thick, although the tip has smoothed down a little, but I didn't see any warty growths on him.
Oddly enough, I noticed the growths on the second bird today because he's broken the tip off his upper beak and I shot a couple of close-up photos of him. Saw the tiny warty growths on his upper feet when I got the photos up on the computer.
I'll be paying even more attention to all the birds at my feeders from now on, watching for other birds who show signs of avian pox.
In case cutaneous avian pox was the bird's problem, at that time I began a regimen of dunking all my feeder parts into a mild bleach solution during every other cleaning (and I clean the feeders every other day).
Today, I saw another bird who is definitely showing some very small warty growths on his upper legs - they look a little like tiny cauliflowers. So, I did a bit more reading about the cutaneous form of avian pox. It can spread if any of the growths have open spots or scabs that break off, with the virus that is in the lymph fluid inside the growths getting onto feeder perches and ports, then transferring to other birds who use those perches and feeder ports. The virus can also be transmitted by mosquitos, but those aren't a problem around here.
Apparently hummingbirds can survive with cutaneous avian pox for quite some time. The bad news is that the growths on the feet can increase to the point where the birds can't perch or if they're around the beak or eyes, they can't feed or see properly. On the other hand, it can progress very slowly or even regress if the warty growths dry up, scab up and then the scabs fall off, leaving behind scar tissue with no virus left. This form of avian pox is sometimes called "dry" avian pox.
I'm going to be doing the bleach dunks now every single time I clean the feeders every other day, now. A 10% bleach solution is recommended. My protocol is to clean the feeder parts (every part, including bottles!) in hot running water, first. Then I dunk all the parts into the bleach solution for a minute, along with the brushes and tools I use to clean the feeders with. Finally, I scrub the heck out of the feeder parts with a few drops of dish detergent and then rinse repeatedly with the hottest water I can manage until there is absolutely no scent of bleach left. The brushes and tools I just rinse with hot water for a minute or two.
I'm hoping that will be enough, although I'll start cleaning the feeders every day, if I decide I need to.
The best way of stopping the disease from spreading is to take down the feeders, but every other house on the street has feeders out. I can only try to prevent those birds who mostly spend their time in my yard from getting the disease. Although, I am thinking about making up a flyer about the disease, how to recognize it and combat it and distributing the flyer around my short street and the street behind me - I do see my birds fly over my back wall to those houses or birds from there come to my yard.
The first hummer who I thought might have avian pox is still around. I just saw him yesterday and he looks pretty good. He was possibly six months old when I first saw him and he now has all his adult plumage. Beak is still rough and thick, although the tip has smoothed down a little, but I didn't see any warty growths on him.
Oddly enough, I noticed the growths on the second bird today because he's broken the tip off his upper beak and I shot a couple of close-up photos of him. Saw the tiny warty growths on his upper feet when I got the photos up on the computer.
I'll be paying even more attention to all the birds at my feeders from now on, watching for other birds who show signs of avian pox.