Rosie Of Washington Square Park's Scabby Eyelids

 A photo by Francois Portmann, http://www.fotoportmann.com/birds/ of Rosie of Washington Square Park.  I took the liberty of cropping it  so you could see what wildlife rehabilitator Bobby Horvath is addressing in his email printed below.  
                       (My apologies to Francois.)

Hi Donna,

I blew the pictures up . There appears to be crusty growths on the eyelid. Possibly pox virus but cannot say for sure. I know its been going on for months so its a slow progressing condition whatever it is.

Its only affecting the one side right now I see . It doesn't look like it has any affect on the vision in that eye yet. Only time will tell if it eventually ceases or continues to grow and become an issue on that side.   

Do watchers observe her scratching it at all like it bothers her ?

There's really nothing that can be done without having her in hand to get a scraping for testing and diagnosis. Even then she would need to be contained for a period for probable antibiotic/medication treatment once it is determined what it is.

Now is obviously not a good time for this to be considered and hopefully if it gets worse it  will hold off long enough till her to fulfill her necessary duties during this breeding season .

Thank you Bobby  for taking a look.  I don’t think you’ll get any argument from anyone on that recommendation.

As whatever the malady may be, as you say it has been going on for awhile without appearing to  affect Rosie’s vision or handicap her in any way, that her duties as a Mom during breeding season,  trumps scabby eyelids on an eye that works just fine every time.

And do write in the comments section as per Bobby Horvath's request or click on the "contact me" button to report any scratching or other behavior that might suggest that Rosie is dealing with any symptoms caused by  the "scabby eyelids" of her right eye.

Now,  run do not walk to Francois' site to see his spectacular photos of the spectacular Rosie protecting her dinner from a brown-tail in Tompkins Square Park.  She is one hot hawk! http://www.fotoportmann.com/birds/

Also James O'Brien over at The Origin of the Species Blog has some gorgeous pictures of the Divine Isolde of  The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.  

Some good hawk news for a change.  

Isolde and Norman appear to be doing just dandy so far this season.   http://yojimbot.blogspot.com/

Happy Hawking!
Donegal Browne