House Finch Eye Disease (mycoplasmal conjunctivitis) .. HELP

(I hope this doesn't post twice. I was typing it before and my browser just shut itself down.)

I had this house finch show up a few days ago; but I wasn't able to get a photo of it until this morning. At first, I thought it was just molting; but from the photo, I can see that's not the case.

Cornell has an ongoing survey to track the spread of mycoplasmal conjunctivitis in house finches. I'm inclined to believe that is what this bird has; but I really don't know for sure.

Can anyone tell me ... Is this mycoplasmal conjunctivitis, some other disease, or possible just a mishap that injured the bird's eye?

Also, if it is mycoplasmal conjunctivitis or some other disease, what should I do? I've thought about taking down my feeders; but I have over 200 birds (house finches, doves, quail, sparrows, thrashers, cactus wrens, and more) that visit my feeders every day. I don't know if there is enough natural food to support the bird population in my yard; so if I do have to take down my feeders, for how long?

If this is a disease, another option (although I don't like to think about it) would be to exterminate the diseased bird.

Any information, suggestions, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jane

In 2008 I noticed a house finch in my yard that looked sickly and was informed that it had a conjuntivitis. I was able to take the bird to an Animal Emergency Hospital in my area and they treated the bird with antibiotics. This service was free since it was a wild bird. I am not a vet, but the bird in your pic looks like it might have a tumor. Found this link that relates to your problem:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/555029/

Hi Jane, Does the other eye like like it's becoming infected? If so I would definitely think this is conjuctivitis but looking at your pic it almost looks like a severe injury.

I would make sure to clean the feeders much more often than usual and monitor the situation as closely as possible. If you see it in other House Finch you might have to take the feeders down for a while.

Do other people feed birds in your area? This might be coming from other places where feeders are not cleaned at all but there are also some other theory's about how the disease is spread.

Thanks for the info Snug & Pelle.

Pelle ... The bird's other eye doesn't appear to be infected; so hopefully this is a tumor or injury instead of something contagious. Also, I think I'm the only one in my neighborhood who has any bird feeders. One of my neighbors used to feed them too; but the birds were eating all of the peaches and apples off of her trees so she had to quit feeding them.

I read somewhere that you can mix a few tablespoons of bleach with water in a spray bottle and use it to clean feeders and surrounding areas between fill-ups; so I think I give that a try just to be on the safe side.

My cat caught a bird with that problem a few years ago , house finch..(no harm to bird, I was there to intervene)
I bought some fish tank antibiotic and took off a small chunk of a pill and mixed it with high dose vit. C bird vitamin concentrate in its water. Had a small cage, kept protected on porch, bird ate and drank on it's own
After a week bird (adult) was as good as new, released it .
I use hydrogen peroxide to clean bird baths and houses, not lethal on lawns or wildlife like bleach can be.