Scientists don't know why hundreds of birds are getting sick and dying across the U.S.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Hundreds of birds are dying without explanation in parts of the South and Midwest.
Wildlife experts in at least six states and Washington, D.C., have reported an increase in sick or dying birds in the past month. The most commonly afflicted birds are blue jays, common grackles and European starlings.
"We're experiencing an unusual amount of bird mortality this year," said Kate Slankard, an avian biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. "We have yet to figure out what the problem is. The condition seems to be pretty deadly."
Symptoms include crusty or puffy eyes, neurological signs of seizures and an inability to stay balanced.
Experts said the birds have been behaving as if they are blind and exhibit other abnormalities, such as not flying away when people get close.
"They'll just sit still, often kind of shaking," Slankard said. "It's pretty safe to say that hundreds of birds in the state have had this problem."
In addition to Kentucky and D.C., Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia have reported similar deaths, officials said.
"We're all working together as a multistate group to try to figure out what's going on," Slankard said. "Diagnosing these problems is complex because several rounds of lab tests must be done."
Some theories about what's causing the birds to become sick and die include a widespread infectious disease, the cicada outbreak and pesticides, said Laura Kearns, a wildlife biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. She said hundreds of birds have been found dead in the state.
Indiana wildlife officials said there have been suspicious deaths of blue jays, robins, northern cardinals and brown-headed cowbirds in five counties. James Brindle, spokesman for the state's Department of Natural Resources, said birds there have tested negative for avian influenza and West Nile virus.
The bird specimens from Kentucky were sent to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia for testing.
"This is probably a new issue," Slankard said of what's possibly causing the deaths.
In September, New Mexico wildlife experts said birds in the region were dropping dead at an alarming rate, potentially in the hundreds of thousands, NBC News reported.
Scientists were baffled by the deaths. Officials said they aren't sure if the two events are related.
Wildlife experts are asking the public to report any suspicious bird deaths. They also urge bird lovers to remove their bird feeders since birds often exchange germs.
Bird feeders and baths should also be cleaned immediately with a 10 percent bleach solution, and people should avoid handling birds, officials said.
Tags
Who is online
440 visitors
It could be a very scary sign - sort of like the canary in the coal mine.
Be 4 i didn't go to college, i had planned to Major in Minoring, and graduate to that Canary, but you unfortunately could be correct, but first, i've got to read the article and see
That we are in the 6th known period of Mass Extinction is no longer in doubt. Even the bugs the birds once feasted on in my backyard are gone. Hell, I run into more squirrels on NT than are now in my neighborhood.
In a weird War Of The Worlds way mankind's war on the insect world is backfiring upon humanity today!
Excessive uses of herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers and other poisonous chemicals used in industrial farming are finally resulting in the collapse of entire ecosystems. As we have basically eliminated entire interdependent species of plants, insects, birds and mammals we now reap an environmental whirlwind.
Add in all the medications our livers don't metabolize thoroughly.
I think that this is a very scary development. The one thing that the article does not mention is if the birds are being affected by covid. It has been found in dogs and cats already.
If any birds get it my guess would be chickens and woe to holidays to come, turkeys ... don't toss those nitrile gloves yet.
It's the bird flu.
I'm surprised some dumb ass hasn't blamed it on wind power generators, yet.
… or emphasized that this is happening Joe Biden’s watch!
So just how long do you expect birds to live. Millions upon millions die every year, now you have people with nothing to do walking around outside which has become the norm and more are coming across dead birds they would not have seen before. Are these scientists tracking every single bird or are they only studying the ones more people out strolling around are finding?
Did you even read the article?
Once upon a time, long ago, conservatives were in favor of, well, conservation. For the conservation of our natural resources and our environment. Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, championed the ideal of conservation. That was back when the Republican Party was still the BIG G GOP. That party does not really still exist. The only thing the lower case gop of today wants to conserve is their own power at the expense of the will of the American voters...
Yes, I did. You do agree birds don't live forever? The scientists studying this haven't found anything yet, and as I remember this was reported here last year (or is this the same article, wait now as I remember it was just the Southwest before), so the reason could be as simple as, more people visiting nature, the more encounters, the more reports of bird deaths.
Birds don't go blind for no reason. These birds are going blind before they die. They are also dying in larger numbers than before. And just because scientists haven't found a reason why for this sudden large number of bird deaths, it doesn't mean that there is no reason. Btw, people visiting birds doesn't cause blindness, crusty or puffy eyes, neurological signs of seizures and an inability to stay balanced.
I guess I should have said, "the more encounters with dead or dying birds", I didn't mean that people visiting the area was causing this.
It says that the birds were acting as if they were blind, which could just mean that they are so out of it that they are oblivious to what is around them as they are dying. You know one thing that may be causing this could be naturally poisonous insects, I mean how else is a bird to know what not to eat, some die, some come out of it.
Also is it larger numbers or more reports?
I tried to get the WaPo article on this, but couldn't due to the block they have, but it appears that the parks service has said that there is an unusually high number of birds suffering from this, and they are advising all people with bird feeders to take them down, as they are worried it is spreading from birds gathering in such places.
Birds know not to eat poisonous insects by the insects' coloring. In fact, some insects that are not poisonous, have evolved to have the same coloring as poisonous ones. Also following that logic, that would mean that birds would be dropping dead all over the place from eating the wrong bugs, but it seems that for now, it is only in a 4 state area.