Avian Salmonella blamed for Billings bird deaths

BILLINGS - An unusual number of dead birds have been found in Billings area yards with bird feeders this spring.

Nearly all of the birds are red crossbills, a species of finch that normally feeds on conifer tree seeds.

Wildlife disease specialists at the National Wildlife Health Center in Wisconsin concluded that the deaths are due to avian salmonella, a naturally occurring bacterium, possibly originating from contaminated food. Salmonella spreads among birds through their feces.

Since mid-May, dead birds have been reported around at least eight bird feeders in the Billings and Laurel areas.

One resident had 50 dead birds so far, and it is likely that other die-offs went unreported.

If dead birds are found, the National Wildlife Health Center recommends cleaning bird feeders thoroughly with a solution of warm water and 10 percent bleach, then rinsing and air drying them.

Feeding should not be restarted for two or three weeks to encourage birds to disperse and forage naturally.

An even better solution, the center said, is to not feed birds at all during the warmer months.

Any time birds are concentrated unnaturally, it hastens the spread of diseases such as salmonella.

During the summer months, the birds don't really need our help.

While most of the dead birds have been red crossbills, which are especially susceptible to salmonella, other species also can be affected and may either die or serve as carriers of the bacteria for several weeks.

The NWHC also notes that the salmonella strain usually found in birds may cause illness in people, but that the risk can be minimized by wearing rubber gloves when handling dead birds or feeders or cleaning bird droppings off decks and other surfaces.

The NWHC also says it's a good idea to discourage pets from picking up bird carcasses.

http://www.kxlf.com/news/avian-salmonella-blamed-for-billings-bird-deaths/

O.C. bird die-off raising concerns among experts

Shelmarie Main and Chloe Mallone were heartbroken when they saw a blue-beaked American wigeon collapsed on a pond drainage grate. His head hung down, barely keeping his beak out of the water, and his wings were splayed to the side.

The mother-daughter duo take walks along Village Pond Park most days to admire wildlife. On that day, two kids poking at something on the ground caught their attention. As they got closer, they realized it was a dying wigeon. His head was twisted and he barely moved. His instinct to flee seemed gone. When they touched him, he shuddered with his last breath. Just a foot away, a female mallard was struggling. Slightly more alert, the bird tried to flee but could not.

Main and Mallone moved the dying animals to safety. As they did, they discovered two more dead ducks. They called the county's animal control for help.

"It was horrible, there were so many," said Mallone, 20, who said she's been a bird geek since age 9. "To see one once in a while is normal but all of these at once, it was heartbreaking. At first I thought someone had been poisoning them."

In the last two weeks nearly three dozen dead and dying water fowl have been found in several areas across Orange County, including Lake Forest and Santa Ana. More than a dozen were found at the Village Pond in Lake Forest. At least 16 dead and dying ducks have been found at Carl Thornton Park near South Coast Plaza in Santa Ana. Most have been migratory birds such as the American wigeon, American coots and some mallards.

Continued:  http://www.ocregister.com/articles/birds-377977-dead-bird.html

Bird Die-Off Hits Region

It looks like another bad year for avian botulism in northern Lake Michigan. In the last week or so, hundreds of dead loons have washed ashore from Sleeping Bear Dunes north to the Upper Peninsula.

Conditions Right
Warm water temperatures and low lake levels are associated with outbreaks of avian botulism. And there have been both of those conditions this year.

“This is looking to be a very intense year,” says Dan Myers at Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council. He tracks reports of dead birds in Emmet County.

One volunteer who walks a beach near Harbor Springs found 40 red neck grebes and 33 loons washed ashore in one day.

Tec Cummings says the sight was disturbing.  “It’s heartbreaking to find them, that many birds, because I’m only walking three or four miles of shore,” Cummings says.

Continued:  http://ipr.interlochen.org/ipr-news-features/episode/bird-die-hits-region/2012-10-19