Weirdness around eye

[Greant]

Any Idea what this is?
http://imgur.com/eeY6Fdf

recently got this bird, and has this issue around one eye.
Not seeing it anywhere else on him

[Wolf]

I am thinking face mites, don't use the over the counter stuff as it is no good and bad for the bird. You nee prescription medication, take the bird to the vet.

[Pajarita]

Hmmmm, it does look like some kind of insect but I don't think it's scaly (aka face) mites because those burrow into the skin so you don't see them - these look more like bird ticks but only birds that are housed outside get them (meaning, pet parrots usually don't) and then only birds kept by somebody who doesn't know what he/she is doing. Was this bird housed outdoors? I would tell you to pull one out and look at it closely but you need to be careful with ticks because if any part of the tick is left inside, the bird can end up with a huge absess (and that's something you don't want happening around the eyes because the area is too delicate and any little thing could end up 'sinking' the eye into the socket -I have a bird with a 'sunken' eye and had two more- or even blinding it)

In any case, yes, you need to take the bird (it's a mitered, right?) to the vet because you need to find out exactly what these things are and have the problem treated (if it's ticks, it's a HUGE infestation you are dealing with here).

[Wolf]

I didn't think of ticks as I have never seen a bird tick, I guess I will have to do some research on them.

[Pajarita]

Oh, yes, wild birds get them! Do a search and you'll see.

[Wolf]

I just did and most of the ticks that I found are like deer ticks and this looks much different so I did some more digging on parasites in birds and I found one picture that looked very close to this one although I wasn't able to download it. It was of feather mites on a budgie.

[Pajarita]

No, feather mites live on the shaft of the feather (which is what they eat) and they almost always choose primaries (thicker shafts), plus they are teeny tiny things, almost invisible. These are too big to be feather mites. All ticks look alike, Wolf, whether they are deer or bird even though they are different species (bird ticks are Ixodes brunneus while deer ticks are Ixodes scapularis -and, no, I don't remember these things by heart, I had to go back to my notes for the names ) and bird ticks almost always attach themselves around the eyes.

[Wolf]

Yeah, I saw a lot of pictures of bird ticks around the eyes of several species of birds. The feather mites or at least that is what they were called were on this birds head and looked the same as far as the shape of them. I will try and find it again and try again to either post a link or the picture and the information with it..