Sick family wild Australian Crows - mites? Please help! (1 Viewer)

[delilah lua]

Hello!

I have a family of Australian crows in my backyard. Two parents, and their baby. Over the past few weeks, I've watched the parents become increasingly itchy and now all their feathers around their necks have been missing. Now, this is spreading to their heads. I suspect mites, and so does my local rescue. We tried to capture them to treat them topically for this yesterday, to no avail. I don't know if it will be possible to catch them at all to apply the medication. They are too clever for their own good!

My question to you is this: Is it possible to apply medication to their drinking water? They drink from the birdbath in my yard. I read somewhere else that some people put Ivermectin into drinking water for mites pet birds, but I can find little information for wild birds.

I'm told that the mites will probably eventually kill them, and I really do love them and I will do anything to try to save them. They are suffering now and it breaks my heart.

Any advice at all would be MUCH APPRECIATED! I'm so anxious about these birds.

Photos: The parents (with the white eyes) scratching themselves. You can see how they are losing feathers.
Last photo: Is one parent and their little baby (black eyes) who still appears to have healthy plumage but it will eventually succumb too if both parents are sick!

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi there and a warm welcome to you .
We're glad you found us and please join in wherever you like

As to the Mites can you call the Rescue org. to ask them if there is anything you can add to the water? Or possibly even a local vet. I'd be hesitant to add anything w/o knowing whether what you add could be dangerous to them.

 

[delilah lua]

Hi there and a warm welcome to you .
We're glad you found us and please join in wherever you like

As to the Mites can you call the Rescue org. to ask them if there is anything you can add to the water? Or possibly even a local vet. I'd be hesitant to add anything w/o knowing whether what you add could be dangerous to them.

Thank you so much!

Yes, I have called both my local rescue and the vet I absolutely wouldn't add anything to their water without running it past the avian vet first. The vet said it is POSSIBLE to add the medication to their water, but she said she's not sure if it will work and wants us to just keep trying to catch them. But I honestly don't know if it's going to be possible to catch them. It's so hard, and each time we try, they get warier and warier.

So I was just wondering if anyone else has treated mites by adding medication to water and if they've had any success... Don't worry, I won't go wildly medicating them! I'm just trying to do research at this point.

Thank you again for the reply!

 

[delia todd]

Hi Delilah and a warm welcome from me too.

I shouldn't worry too much, birds often look like this at the end of the nesting season and they'll be moulting soon (if they've not started already). I'm sure they'll soon look better. It's worth keeping an eye on them though and if they appear to be going downhill, ask for professional advice, as KC suggests.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I hope to hear about all the birds you see when out and about.

 

[Magpie whisperer]

Thank you so much!

Yes, I have called both my local rescue and the vet I absolutely wouldn't add anything to their water without running it past the avian vet first. The vet said it is POSSIBLE to add the medication to their water, but she said she's not sure if it will work and wants us to just keep trying to catch them. But I honestly don't know if it's going to be possible to catch them. It's so hard, and each time we try, they get warier and warier.

So I was just wondering if anyone else has treated mites by adding medication to water and if they've had any success... Don't worry, I won't go wildly medicating them! I'm just trying to do research at this point.

Thank you again for the reply!

I’ve got magpies with the same problem. It’s spring so they probably have young chicks starting out. I’m very worried about them starting out their life infested with mites. I’ve also had little success finding information on treating wild birds. Want to add ivermectin to water but wonder how good it would work considering they probably have it in their nest. Or pick it back up from other magpies again. Would have to be ongoing treatment for them. I’m VERY stressed over one of my magpie friends has a badly broken leg & I can’t catch him to get him treatment. Breaks my heart every time I think about him. I just rehabilitated a female hen Maggie that had been attacked by 3 magpies & couldn’t fly. Fed her mealworms, earthworms, tiny slices of raw beef & dry oats. She wouldn’t eat or drink for 2 days but after 3 weeks of exercising, eating & drinking well, she was ready to release. Great feeling! She flew away just fine. Seen her many times when she comes back at feeding time.

 

[klm70]

I've been in a similar situation with my backyard magpies and currawongs. The scaly leg mites were a huge problem for them and i purchased Ivermectin from my bird vet who gave me instructions on how to add it to mince to then target feed the birds with the issue. Not sure if it helped as they saw my home as transient and i wasn't sure who was who but i remain hopeful it helped. 🤞