canberrabirds

FW: Why are the dead birds dropping out of the sky

To: Lia Battisson <>
Subject: FW: Why are the dead birds dropping out of the sky
From: Robin Hide <>
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:38:51 +1100
On 17/01/2011 1:28 PM, Lia Battisson wrote:

Has anybody heard any follow up on the stories in the news recently?  I’ve been in the Tasmanian wilderness, so I didn’t even hear the original stories.

 

This from ProMed in Jan 9...
Robin

UNDIAGNOSED DIE-OFF, AVIAN - USA (05): (ARKANSAS), TRAUMA
***********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: 6 Jan 2011
Source: JS Online [edited]
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/113018024.html?>


The mystery of the deaths of thousands of blackbirds in Arkansas this 
month [January 2011] has been solved. They died of blunt-force 
trauma, according to the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison. 
Samples of the blackbirds -- and other blackbirds from a separate 
mass die-off about the same time in Louisiana -- were brought to the 
little-known laboratory on Madison's west side for necropsies.

"They died of impact force to their bodies," said Scott Wright, chief 
of disease investigations at the center.

He said the birds clearly showed signs of bruises. The Arkansas Game 
and Fish Commission said tests for evidence of pesticide poisoning 
were negative.

At least 3000 red-winged blackbirds died on New Year's Eve near 
Beebe, Arkansas. Fireworks probably sent them flying from their roost sites.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said the agency began receiving 
reports of blackbirds falling from the sky about 11:30 p.m. on 31 Dec 
2010 in a one-square-mile area of Beebe.

The mass kill spawned speculation that their demise was caused by a 
chemical pollutant, a fear heightened by the arrival in Beebe of 
workers combing neighborhoods in hazmat suits. As the story spread, 
other theories ranged from biblical apocalypse to proof of the 
presence of UFOs.

"It's believed that the noise startled them -- they are poor night 
fliers -- and they were in close proximity to neighborhoods, and they 
flew into homes and cars (and other objects)," Wright said.

A separate incident near Baton Rouge, Louisiana involving about 450 
blackbirds is still under investigation by the center, Wright said.

"I think the 2 events are a coincidence," Wright said. Also 
unrelated, he said, are the deaths of more than 80 000 freshwater 
drum and a few yellow bass, white bass, and sauger in the Arkansas 
River reported on 3 Jan 2011.

Wright said large scale deaths of birds and other species are not 
uncommon. Storms, for example, wreak havoc on bird populations. Birds 
are also vulnerable to chemical pollution and biological poisoning 
from natural toxins.

For the blackbird species alone, there have been 16 incidents in 
which 1000 or more birds have died in single events over the past 5 
years, he said. The lab analyzes 300 to 500 large die-off events each 
year. The deaths involve all wildlife. Deaths in 2010 were as varied 
as the demise of 4500 bats from a fungal infection known as 
white-nose syndrome in Bucks County, PA to the deaths of 150 
raccoons, striped skunks, coyotes and red foxes in Los Angeles County.

The lab's website shows 9 separate mortality events since December 
2010 alone. Eight of those events involved bird species, and one 
involved the gunshot deaths of dozens of Brazilian free-tailed bats 
near Pima, AZ. The National Wildlife Health Center also played a key 
role in the study of chronic wasting disease in Wisconsin's 
white-tailed deer population after an outbreak in February 2002.

"We don't know what we are going to get tomorrow, or the next day, 
but it will be something," Wright said.

[Byline: Lee Bergquist]

- --
Communicated by:
HealthMap Alerts via
ProMED-mail m("promedmail.org","promed");"><>

[The birds reportedly "fell from the sky." Trauma would certainly be 
evident. While the necropsy of the birds rules out any apparent foul 
play, it does not identify the reason the birds were flying at night 
and flying into objects. - Mod.TG]

[see also:
Undiagnosed die-off, avian - USA (02): (AR, LA) 20110105.0055
Undiagnosed die-off, avian - USA: (AR), RFI 20110104.0036]
....................................................sb/tg/msp/mpp

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