Bird experts please read

[LVSteve]

I keep a couple of birdbaths to encourage the birds to visit my yard and eat the bugs. Also, some are pretty and worth photographing.

This year I seem to have a bunch of mutant/hybridised/diseased House Finches. Below is a picture of a normal House Finch followed by three shots of the funky guys. Note the almost Crossbill beak and the extra long claws on the feet.

There is another bizarre thing, they are almost tame! I can be filling one birdbath when a whole slew of them will land on the other one not three feet away. If I talk to them (I know!) they just sort of look at me then look at the bath I'm filling like "Hurry up, it's getting crowded on this one". I've had one or two cheeky Robins that have done similar over the years, but even they look at you a little warily. These House Finches are just brazen.

Any thoughts?

[LouisianaJoe]

What are you putting in the water?

Are there any chemical plants near to you.

[s&wchad]

Originally Posted by LVSteve

Note the almost Crossbill ...

Mrs. Chad tells me there's a bird called a Crossbill. Does it have white wing bars?

[LVSteve]

Originally Posted by s&wchad

Mrs. Chad tells me there's a bird called a Crossbill. Does it have white wing bars?

Nope, no wing bars. I have wondered if this is a House Finch/Crossbill hybrid.

[woodsltc]

Zombie Finches !!!

I wouldn't turn your back on them..............no telling what they may do.


Don

[GaryS]

Originally Posted by woodsltc

Zombie Finches !!!

I wouldn't turn your back on them..............no telling what they may do.


Don

You beat me four minutes!

[DeathGrip]

What CTG ???

[jkc]

Look, many of us warned you Nevadans (or whatever you're called) that this Yucca Mountain thing was not all it was cracked up to be, and that the so-called redundant safeguards and all weren't as robust as promised, and now look what's happened. We told you so...

[DeadAye]

Even though I don't know much about birds - I read it anyway --- So there!

[Kelly Green]

That story kinda reminds me of this.

[jlrhiner]

I occaisionly get bald headed cardinals. There's a mite that gets under their skin which causes them to drop their feathers.

What you have greatly favors the female white winged crossbill. It could have some issues, though.

[quneur]

I wouldn't worry about them until they grow teeth or opposable thumbs.

or lips...

[sbeduckman]

That second one is not a fine looking specimen of anything. It's terrible looking....I suggest fire.

[Rule3]

Originally Posted by jkc

Look, many of us warned you Nevadans (or whatever you're called) that this Yucca Mountain thing was not all it was cracked up to be, and that the so-called redundant safeguards and all weren't as robust as promised, and now look what's happened. We told you so...

Yep, plus all the actual tests they did out there, You are all doomed,

[LVSteve]

Originally Posted by sbeduckman

That second one is not a fine looking specimen of anything. It's terrible looking....I suggest fire.

I included that guy deliberately because I wondered if disease was the issue. This one pretty much let me walk right up underneath it to get that photo. I am wondering if somebody was keeping these birds, probably illegally, and has since released them. If they kept them too long they might be inbred and it would explain them being so comfortable around me.

The group that almost mobbed me today looked in much better shape. Their lack of concern at landing next to me is very odd. I am used to the Robins who wait until my back turns as I start to walk away diving right in, and in other years I have filled the birdbaths to a chorus of small birds in the trees, probably yelling hurry up. But this "Oh well, he's just there filling the other birdbath" attitude is new.

[buck460XVR]

What you are probably seeing is a unintended result of human intervention into the bird kingdom. God intended for these birds to have a diverse and varied diet. This spread the birds out over large areas. Wild birds raised in a urban environment learn to become dependent on bird feeders, garden flowers and bird baths and thus develop a very small home range. This means birds raised in an area stay in that area and the result is inbreeding, resulting in birth defects and oddities. The easy availability of food and water provided by humans also minimizes the effects of "survival of the fittest" and evolution by allowing these oddities to live a longer life instead of succumbing to hunger and/or thirst.

[deanodog]

Maybe they are getting old like me. I don't look so good

[geoff40]

They look to me like normal, young, red crossbills. The tameness also suggests inexperienced fledglings. I don't think there is any chemicals or radiation involved.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red_crossbill/id

[LVSteve]

AHA!! The third picture on that website seals it. Dead ringer for my guys.

Well, that is going to be one in the eye for the "experts" at the bird preserve on the other side of the valley. They have looked dubiously at me several times for things I have reported in my yard. I had suspected I had crossbills a few years ago but they insisted that they live in the mountains. Well, the community I live in has quite a few pine trees and with me supplying water nature will have its way.

[long colt frazier]

Looks like juveniles of the breed. I have some nasty looking fledgling cardinals hanging around the feeder.

[A10]

The sickly one probably has mites. We also get some diseases that run through the pine sisken/house finch communities here in Washington that can result in disorientation and disfigurement of the birds. We try to be fairly fastidious about cleaning the feeders.

[handejector]

Originally Posted by LVSteve

Any thoughts?

They're ugly little boogers.

[MKT]

The second one sure bears a striking resemblance to C. Montgomery Burns!

[Sebago Son]

I wonder if these crossbills have gotten ahold of Willie's seedpods?

Struggle For Life