Thrushes Bulletin

Thrushes Bulletin

- Austin Middlemiss

I SUPPOSE it’s inevitable when writing a regular bulletin that eventually there will be something not so positive to report on. My troubles began within the week of the Morpeth CBS show (October 28, 2017), which I reported on in the last bulletin (see February 7, 2018 issue). The birds had been returned to their individual stock cages and, while I was feeding them, something about the satinette song thrush cock caught my eye.

He seemed to have a scab-like growth on one side around the area of the hinge of the beak. It hadn’t been noticeable when he was at the show, but now it was unmistakeable. Otherwise, he looked the picture of health; bright-eyed with no sign of a fluffed-up appearance. I began searching the internet and was shocked to realise it might be bird pox. How was this possible? Well, online information was pretty clear that a midge bite was the likeliest culprit. I spoke to my brother who has extensive experience with racing pigeons and bantams, and he said the prescribed action in the pigeon world was to let it run its course.

The internet basically gave me much of the same advice, although there was a suggestion that a general antibiotic could be administered to guard against any secondary infection. My brother knocked me up a concoction and I started a course in the drinking water. I was relieved that this bird was separated from all of the other thrushes and that, at the time, he otherwise looked in remarkably rude health.

Trouble strikes twice