"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 17/10/2013 10:58, Bertie Doe wrote:


"David Hill" wrote in message ...

On 16/10/2013 21:50, Bertie Doe wrote:


"Spider" wrote in message ...

On 11/10/2013 15:58, David Hill wrote:
Had this Blue Tit on the feeder just now,
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps18fab201.jpg



All the others are normal sized, but this one was all fluffed up and
seems to have a growth on it's head, or it could be a tick.
Any ideas?

It could be avian pox. There's a link to report it on the BTO website.

I've xposted to uk.rec.birdwatching, for obs etc.

/I posted to BTO and to Garden Wildlife Health | Monitoring the health of
/Garden Wildlife
/Tick is the agreed probability

It's the first example I've seen. Don't suppose it's survivable.


I don't know. Ticks will drop off when fully fed so It may be lucky.
I just can't understand how it got it, Tits are not ground feeders and I
don't think ticks climb trees and bushes..

Blue tits may well roost in old nest boxes and there could well be a tick in
there to latch on to the bird.

As long as the tick isn't squashed or squeezed and allowed to drop off
naturally, the bird may suffer no adverse effects.