I believe what Bob was saying is that we on this site
have not posted much regarding house finches and west
nile contraction.  If I may, I do not believe he was
dismayed at the fact that they can get disease.

I too have not had one in e. jackson co since last
fall.  Coincidentally, this occured about the time the
snowbirds, err, juncos showed up...hmmmm.

I still have one purple finch coming, as I had the
male two of three days on the backyard bird count, and
up to 100 goldfinches still partake in my feed.

I still have the Oregon Junco coming too, but expect
this to change within about two weeks.

Lynn Miller
Lone Jack,MO
Jackson CO

--- Yvonne Homeyer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Why is hard to believe that West Nile Virus could
> have anything to do with
> the disappearance of House Finches?  Over 130
> species of birds have been
> known to contract the disease.
>
> Yvonne Homeyer
> St. Louis
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Robert Fisher <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 7:41 PM
> Subject: What's with the House Finches?
>
>
> > It is almost March, and I realize that I have
> neither seen nor heard a
> House Finch yet this year. To be sure, I have not
> been getting out much. But
> in past years all of the feeders in my neighborhood
> would have hosted them,
> and by now they should be singing up and down my
> street. The feeder at
> Antioch Park that I watched for the Pine Warbler
> this morning should have
> had them, but did not. So should they be singing
> around my office in
> downtown Independence, where they have nested for
> quite a few years. But
> they are absent there, too.
> >
> > Come to think of it, my party only had one on the
> Kansas City CBC,
> although we looked at lots of feeders, including
> those at the Burroughs
> Audubon Library.
> >
> > I have heard that House Finches have been
> contracting an avian
> conjunctivitis of a kind that infects captive song
> birds, but I have been
> hearing about that for several years now without
> previously noting much
> impact on the local House Finch population. Has an
> epidemic of that finally
> reached us? Or is my sample just a small one?
> >
> > It is hard to believe that West Nile Virus has
> much to do with it.
> >
> > While I am wondering about House Finches, is their
> disappearance related
> to the fact that I have not seen a Pine Siskin for
> over two years, and very
> few in the Kansas City area in the several years
> before the last two? If so,
> why are there still plenty of goldfinches around? Or
> will they be next?
> >
> >
> > Bob Fisher
> > Independence, Missouri
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
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