Causes of death of wild birds of the family Fringillidae in Britain

The provision of supplementary food for wild birds in gardens during the winter months is common in the UK, but it is possible that it may precipitate infectious diseases in the birds. This paper describes the results of postmortem examinations of 116 wild finches carried out over a period of four y...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inVeterinary record Vol. 143; no. 6; pp. 155 - 158
Main Authors Pennycott, T. W., Ross, H. M., McLaren, I. M., Park, A., Hopkins, G. F., Foster, G.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England BMJ Publishing Group Limited 08.08.1998
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Animals
Bacterial Infections - epidemiology
Bird Diseases - mortality
Cause of Death
causes of death
Data Collection
dietary supplements
Escherichia coli
Fringillidae
geographical variation
mortality
necropsy
Salmonella typhimurium
Scotland - epidemiology
Songbirds
wild birds
Scotland
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Summary:The provision of supplementary food for wild birds in gardens during the winter months is common in the UK, but it is possible that it may precipitate infectious diseases in the birds. This paper describes the results of postmortem examinations of 116 wild finches carried out over a period of four years. The two commonest causes of death in areas where high mortality had been reported were infections with the bacteria Salmonella typhimurium DT4o and Escherichia coli O86. Coccidia of the genera Atoxoplasma or Isospora were found in several of the birds but were considered to be incidental. Megabacteria were also identified in some of the birds, for the first time in flocks of wild birds in the UK, but they were not considered to be significant.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0042-4900
2042-7670
DOI:10.1136/vr.143.6.155