Spotty Goldfinch

[Simples]

This goldfinch has strange yellow spots on his face. He is a slightly fainter colour than normal especially the black on his head, which is patchy and flecked with white, but otherwise appears fit and healthy. Any ideas what, if anything, is wrong with him?

[artdemole]

Reminds me of some kind of mite.

[diggleken]

Could be red mite family,but looks a bit big for that, so maybe a lice , an ectoparasite, on the feathers.
I think they arent too harmful unless really infested, but I dont really know.
Uncomfortable I should imagine.
Nice pic to!
And welcome to WAB!
Cheers
Ken

[Picidae]

Looks fine to me. The crown pattern on Goldfinch in winter is less intensively red with yellowish flecks - more so in females. The lighter grey crown is a feature of 2cy/1st winter birds as are the white/grey nasal hairs so my guess would be this is a late winter/spring female in it's first year. The 'effect' is probably accentuated by the very clear close up photo and lighting.

[Simples]

Originally Posted by Picidae

Looks fine to me. The crown pattern on Goldfinch in winter is less intensively red with yellowish flecks - more so in females. The lighter grey crown is a feature of 2cy/1st winter birds as are the white/grey nasal hairs so my guess would be this is a late winter/spring female in it's first year. The 'effect' is probably accentuated by the very clear close up photo and lighting.

While I appreciate your knowledge and opinion, I feel you are wrong in this case. I have 8 regulars here and have photographed them all many times, and I am 100% certain this bird is not normal. The texture is different and the yellow spots are obviously raised. I spend a good deal of time studying these birds and am aware of what is normal and what is not. One gets to know the birds that visit regularly when one has nothing better to do than watch and photograph them!

There is absolutely no distortion in the photograph, and as you rightly pointed out it is very clear. It was taken from about 3-4 feet in good light on a slightly overcast day. The bird looks exactly the same with the naked eye and through binoculars.

Perhaps your monitor is not adjusted properly, but I can assure you that the images above are as accurate a representation as it is possible to get!

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by Simples

While I appreciate your knowledge and opinion, I feel you are wrong in this case. I have 8 regulars here and have photographed them all many times, and I am 100% certain this bird is not normal. The texture is different and the yellow spots are obviously raised. I spend a good deal of time studying these birds and am aware of what is normal and what is not. One gets to know the birds that visit regularly when one has nothing better to do than watch and photograph them!

There is absolutely no distortion in the photograph, and as you rightly pointed out it is very clear. It was taken from about 3-4 feet in good light on a slightly overcast day. The bird looks exactly the same with the naked eye and through binoculars.

Perhaps your monitor is not adjusted properly, but I can assure you that the images above are as accurate a representation as it is possible to get!

You asked for an opinion Simples and I gave one. That's all! Again, IMO, I see nothing untoward in this Goldfinch but it is just my opinion, which you can of course choose to dismiss. I wasn't sure that you were aware of the variation in Goldfinch facial patterns so thought I'd point out some of the reasons (sometimes 8 birds of any species isn't enough to appreciate how all bird species can vary even within their own species, sometimes it takes viewing thousands!) Young birds do have more yellow face feathers (after their post juv moult) which become abraded/moulted throughout the winter revealing a more intense red. Females often have more yellowish face feathers anyway and greyish crowns. I can't see any 'spots' as such, what i see on my monitor (which is ''adjusted properly'' I assure you!) are yellow feathers not some kind of abnormal skin growth. I see grey/whitish feathers on the head, rather than the black of adults as well as seeing pale grey rictus feathers/nostril hairs, again not abnormal IMO. The texture of feathers varies according to the age of them and according to the colour.

Diet and health effects moult speed in birds, it could even be this individual has a slightly retarded feather development, either way, juvenile feathers are usually a different length to those that replace them, as are freshly moulted feathers and a different texture - Goldfinch have (an almost) complete post juvenile moult which is generally completed by September - the rest of the body feathers look adult (the tail feathers can't be seen but if they are abraded that would possibly be another indicator for a first winter bird)

I'm not an expert by any means (and I assume neither are you or you wouldn't have joined WAB looking for opinion?) but I can only give you the benefit of what I know.

Before you 'dismiss' my suggestions in favor of the bird being sick, have a look through some of these images as well as reading the Iberclajav link below showing various moult stages of Eurasian Goldfinch.

Firstly birds showing 'yellow spots', grey head feathers, pale rictal feathers etc:
Galleriet - Netfugl.dk

Some first winter birds here: (if the link works!)
Iris


If you scroll down the Iberclajav link you'll see female (and young Goldfinch) often show different textured feathers on the head with 'yellow spotting'.(page 6) In addition you will see young first winter birds do not show solid black on the head but greyish moulted feathers. (page 5)

http://www.ibercajalav.net/img/431_G....carduelis.pdf

Read the above link and check out the photos and see what you think.
(ps wasn't suggesting the photos were ''distorted'' far from it. They are so focused and sharp, that as with all good photos, show more clearly when viewed enlarged on a monitor, sometimes details that we don't see with either binos or naked eye)

PPS, I'm not an 'expert' on bird diseases either, so there's always room for the possibility I am wrong and one of our WAB members recognises some disease here for sure.

[solus]

Originally Posted by Picidae

Looks fine to me. The crown pattern on Goldfinch in winter is less intensively red with yellowish flecks - more so in females.

Looks OK to me too.

As Picidae points out in post 6 above, this is something we often don't notice as we do not usually have such close-up magnified views. Across in the fungus forum it's a regular thing that when looking at a close-up photo of fungus A on a chunk of wood a tiny and previously un-noticed fungus B appears, not seen with the naked eye!

The yellow bits don't look "obviously raised" to me, just part of the feathering in my opinion. if you can see the Iris link Picidae has posted there are quite a few similarly marked birds there - and that's without me going through all six hundred and whatever pics!

[RKB]

Picidae and Solus are right - the 'spots' are clearly feathers (same as the whitish feathers in the crown). It's a first-winter bird (can see at least one OGC), showing a bit of variation. Birds are not often 'perfect' and when you handle and examine hundreds/thousands per year (e.g. ringers) then you see all sorts of imperfections and variations. I've seen plenty of Goldfinches like this, it's not too unusual.

Only birds in good condition can produce vibrant colours and neat patterns. Birds that have had a hard time during the moult often show aberrant feathers - and lots of birds have a hard time during the moult.

Lice and mites tend to be dark, small, and not to sit on top of the feathers - otherwise they get picked/wiped off by the bird.

[MikeS]

I feel sure that Picidae and RKB are absolutely correct - ringers see birds like this quite frequently in the hand.