To address Chris' question, yes I occasionally see finches (mainly House but also Goldfinches) with an eye infection at my feeders. I have also seen them at other peoples feeders. The disease is Mycoplasmal conjunctivitis. It was first detected in wild songbirds in 1994 in the DC area but now has spread to all Eastern states and Canada. It is thought to have originated from domestic poultry and turkey farms where it is a common pathogen of livestock. There is quite a bit of information on this online, including risk factors and ways to possibly reduce the risk of "your" birds from becoming infected. Two articles I found that are from reputable sources can be found here in pdf format. There are many others for those who want to delve deeper.

About its discovery: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627586/pdf/9126448.pdf 

Risk factors: http://www.jwildlifedis.org/content/34/2/281.full.pdf+html

I don't have very many Finches at my feeders right now either but as others have mentioned, they come in waves (and dribs and drabs) and move around quite a bit anyway. There is plenty of wild food around for them as well so they may just be focusing on other areas right now. Both American and House Finches can and do migrate as well, we may just be in a lull before northern birds fill in behind the breeders. 

Good Birding,

Frank Marenghi
Annapolis, MD



 		 	   		  
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