ok Alex.
This is a link that tells of the two main diseases Canker and Salmonella, it does also state of huge losses of Sparrows to Salmonella, another thing to point out to them. Its also worth telling them that thes losses will be noted more in gardns where people feed birds as this is how the disease spreads, so people are inadvertedly killing them by passing on the disease.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpin...ds/disease.asp
These are pics (I should have bigger files if needed) of birds that are "puffed up" a classic symptom of both of the diseases and a collection of Greenfinches and a Chaffinch that we picked up in one sweep of the orchard in one morning! We collected 16 birds one day.
The RSPB sanctuary at Sandwell Valley also reported HUGE numbers of deaths of finches this last year, and up till very recently too, we have also seen in the last 2 weeks, 2 Goldfinches we think may be "fluffies" we are hoping we see no more.
The name of the pathologist is "Becki Lawson," she is at The zoological society of London, she is fantastic and had carried out all the PM's on suspect birds, she was extremely concerned at the numbers she was seeing, and asked me if she could use the pics for her presentations.
Its important to pint out that Collared Doves, Feral and Wood Pigeons are the original carriers and sufferers of this disease, they are the ones now in peoples gardens and the disease is now affecting garden birds because of them.
Dawn.
