:.:Birds Die-off in Long Island:.:

[Giuseppe]

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Health Dept.: No human risk from Staten Island bird deaths
5:39 AM EST, December 23, 2007
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NEW YORK - City officials say there is no human health risk from the sudden deaths of dozens of birds in a Staten Island neighborhood.

Roughly 40 to 50 black birds floundered and fell from the sky Friday on a street near Great Kills Harbor.

They thrashed around on the ground and quickly died.

The city Health Department says tests to determine what killed the birds will take weeks, but nothing suggests any hazard to residents.

Officials say air-quality tests found no danger.

Officials say it's possible the birds were poisoned by a pesticide.

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http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--birddeaths1223dec23,0,4525664.story
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[Giuseppe]

Re: :.:BIRDS DIE-OFF IN LONG ISLAND:.:

Re: :.:BIRDS DIE-OFF IN LONG ISLAND:.:

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Flock of birds mysteriously die in S.I.
BY JOE GOULD and RICH SCHAPIRO
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Saturday, December 22nd 2007, 4:00 AM
More than 50 birds plummeted to the pavement in Bay Terrace in Staten Island.

Droves of dead birds dropped from the sky in Staten Island Friday - and city health officials don't know why.

More than 50 birds plummeted to the pavement in Bay Terrace about 3 p.m., causing frightened residents to scramble indoors.

"It was like Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds,'" said Donna Toti, 50. "Birds were just falling out of the sky. They would land, lie on the ground, flap and die."

The birds - all believed to be Purple Martins - landed within the Port Regalle development near the intersection of Wiman Ave. and Tennyson Drive.

Some appeared to die in the air; others expired in the moments after they hit the pavement, authorities said.

"When we pulled in, most of the birds were on the ground, floundering and foaming at the mouth," said FDNY Battalion Chief John Giacella.

Giacella suggested that because all the birds were the same species they likely got ill from something they ate. But he noted that he was far from certain.

Health department officials collected the birds last night and were sending them to a lab for testing.

A spokeswoman said it was too early to tell what led to their demise.

Officials from the city Department of Environmental Protection and the Office of Emergency Management were at the scene last night.

Marc Zurlo, 33, and other residents were left scratching their heads.

"There's rumors about everything," he said. "The compost pile, ammonia, that they must have ate something."

Zurlo said the birds were flying around crooked - "as if they were drunk" - before torpedoing to the ground.

"It was like something you see in a movie," he added.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/12/22/2007-12-22_flock_of_birds_mysteriously_die_in_si.html
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Shot at 2007-12-25