By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, November 7, 2018
Bird lovers who count birds at backyard feeders and send the results to scientists are keeping an extra sharp watch for a disease that has cut the number of house finches by about half.
The infectious eye disease that appeared in 1994 has mutated into a more powerful bug, and is spreading to new finch species.
House finches, purple finches, goldfinches and evening grosbeaks are all affected now by “house finch eye disease,” says the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/a-mysterious-eye-disease-is-wiping-out-house-finches