Hello, Tweets,

I found a couple of extremely old posts about this, and I'm wondering if
there is more information now, with new cases cropping up.

Does anyone know the symptoms of West Nile in birds, especially corvids?

I ask, because we have had a young Steller's Jay, puffed up and sitting
on our arbor for over an hour -- seemingly not disturbed by our moving
around the yard -- and vocalizing softly. Not sure if s/he's sick, or
just practicing a whisper song. Is vocalization a good sign or not?

If one of our Tweeter-vets or anyone else *does* know any symptoms
particular to birds, it seems that it might be helpful to share them
with Tweeters. Because we're all such close observers of birds, we'd be
a good sentinel reporting crowd.

The Seattle Audubon website has this to say, mostly specific to raptors:

Most birds that do get sick die within 24-48 hours of becoming
lethargic, unbalanced, and unable to maintain normal body posture. In
infected raptors the following symptoms have been observed: initially
the birds are depressed and anorexic with consequent rapid weight loss.
This is followed by head tremors, green waste products (indicating liver
damage), blindness, ataxia and weakness in legs, and general lack of
awareness of surroundings. In the final phase preceding death there are
severe tremors and seizures. Many of these symptoms reflect virus
infection of and inflammation in the brain and spinal cord, but many
other tissues are also damaged, including heart, lungs, kidneys, spleen
and liver, explaining the virtual inevitability of a fatal outcome in
susceptible species.
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Anything else?

Thanks!

Ellen Blackstone, Wedgwood, Seattle