Growing number of dead birds in southern New Mexico raise alarm for wildlife experts

[Mary Wilson]

Grace Reader
Updated: September 15, 2020 08:32 PM
Created: September 13, 2020 06:12 PM

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —A growing number of birds in southern New Mexico that have mysteriously died have wildlife experts scratching their heads.

“It appears to be an unprecedented and a very large number,” said Martha Desmond, a professor at NMSU’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology. “It's very difficult to put a finger on exactly what that number is, but I can say it would easily be in the hundreds of thousands of birds.”

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico-news/growing-number-of-dead-birds-in-southern-new-mexico-raise-alarm-for-wildlife-experts/5861193/

[Mary Wilson]

Non-categorized event in USA on September 16 2020 04:26 AM (UTC).

... "I've never seen anything like this in New Mexico in recent times," said Martha Desmond, a professor in New Mexico State University's department of fish, wildlife and conservation ecology. One of the first alerts about the die-offs came on August 20, when a report described a sharp increase in dead birds found at the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico, Dr. Desmond said. Since then, Dr. Desmond and other researchers have fielded reports of dead migratory birds found in many parts of New Mexico, as well as in parts of Southern Colorado and West Texas. Dr. Desmond said the numbers of dead birds in the region could easily number in the hundreds of thousands. Trish Cutler, a wildlife biologist at the White Sands Missile Range, told the Albuquerque television station KOB over the weekend that fewer than half a dozen dead migratory birds are reported dead at the weapons testing site in a normal week. "This last week we've had a couple of hundred, so that really got our attention," Ms. Cutler said. Residents of different parts of New Mexico increasingly began to post similar reports in recent days.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/database/index.php?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=UEV-20200916-71288-USA