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Re abandoned fairy Martin nests

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Subject: Re abandoned fairy Martin nests
From: "Judie Peet" <>
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 14:33:30 +1100
Thanks to Hugo and David for your advice regarding the abandonment of all the nests in a Fairy Martin colony near Dubbo in central NSW.
 
The property owners have now found a couple of dead adults at the edge of their property.  The whole story is that the flock gradually became fewer in number, with less birds returning each day to feed the chicks.  Then, no birds at all.  After a couple of weeks (?) a bad smell caused the property owners to knock down the abandoned nests.  They found 10-15 dead, fully-feathered chicks, and a few live ones.  WIRES was called in to try to save the living but weak chicks.  Unfortunately, they have all died since I first wrote about this.
 
It could be that a nearby property had sprayed a chemical that affected the adults gradually - maybe an insecticide? My information is that this would have been 4-5 kms away.
 
Judie
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