The Lincolnshire Bird Club

We have encountered a reasonable proportion of Great Tits infected with Avian Pox at Bourne over the last few months. This desease affects mainly Great Tits and has been spreading from the south-east for the last few years reaching Oxfordshire in 2010......and now Lincolnshire. I would be interested of any other records in Lincolnshire. Avian Pox affects Great Tits and occasionally other tits and finches and is very contagious.

Alan

What are the signs of it Alan - and is it fatal?

We are seeing very few Great Tits and Blue Tits in our garden this winter.

Roy

Alan,
So far, I have not caught any birds with obvious symptoms in this part of the county. Roy, I've seen a clip of one Great Tit suffering with very large tumours on its' belly and flanks the size of a 5p piece. It looks an awful disease.

Roy,

I am informed that in most cases it is fatal. It does seem to affect mainly Great Tits, and we have not encountered any other species affected yet at Bourne. There are a lot of Blue Tits around, but perhaps they are not coming into gardens due to the mild weather. We ring in and next to Bourne Woods and there seems to be more Blue Tits around than in previous years. (we ringed 200 Blue Tits in just four sessions in Bob Sheppard's garden in Nov/Dec)

Alan