Mystery bird deaths (New Zealand)

[yielddude]

Mystery bird deaths continue


Bird carcasses continue to pile up in areas around Havelock North, as council officials wonder what is killing them



27 November 2006

More dead birds are turning up in areas around Havelock North, while the search for their mystery killer continues.

Most of the birds picked up since last week have been from Anderson Park, but there have also been reported of dead birds in other areas, including Te Mata Peak.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council is coordinating the investigation into what is killing them.

Group manager Mike Adye says mass bird deaths are not uncommon, but the Havelock North case is unusual in the range of species dying. Sparrows, blackbirds, starlings and a few magpies have all fallen victim to the mystery illness.

At least four cats and a dog have died after coming into contact with carcasses of the birds.

http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=68045&c=w

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Mystery bird deaths continue (New Zealand)

Re: Mystery bird deaths continue (New Zealand)

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13360

 

[yielddude]

Re: Mystery bird deaths continue (New Zealand)

Re: Mystery bird deaths continue (New Zealand)

Puzzle over seagull deaths

06.12.2006
KELLY BURNS
Mystery shrouds the death of 20 seagulls discovered on Waimarama beach.

Eight birds were found dead on Sunday and 12 more corpses were recovered on Monday.

All seagulls were found dead in one area. A Waimarama resident, who did not want to be named, said she had seen many dead seagulls along the beach, and others dying in front of her.

"I've seen them shaking - it's awful," she said.

Speculation was rife on the cause of the deaths but locals believed urea on farms could be responsible.

Another resident said they spotted two dead magpies nearby. Hawke's Bay Regional Council had recovered the dead birds and a check yesterday found no more gulls on the sand-dunes.





The council had taken samples from the water and was conducting tests to find the cause of the deaths.
A post-mortem on a seagull will be carried out today. The black-backed gull, or seagull, is the only native species not protected in New Zealand.

Department of Conservation spokeswoman Barbara Curtis said DOC received a report on Sunday about the dead birds. She said it was doubtful there was a link between them and the death of 200 birds and pets at Havelock North's Anderson Park last month.

The different species and different locations meant a connection was unlikely, but DOC would follow it up with testing and a report.

Tests by Biosecurity New Zealand ruled out avian flu, and council water tests struck out the possibility of the bacteria algal bloom festering in the stream.

http://www.hbtoday.co.nz/localnews/...localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

 

[Sally Furniss]

Re: Mystery bird deaths (New Zealand)

Re: Mystery bird deaths (New Zealand)

Tests by Biosecurity New Zealand ruled out avian flu

This from Biosecurity website

"You can play a significant role by reporting anything unusual, such as large numbers of sick or dead birds, to the Emergency Pest and Disease Hotline on 0800 80 99 66.

Avian influenza is classed as a notifiable exotic disease under the Biosecurity Act; this means that any suspect cases must be notified to MAF immediately."

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/faq/term/906/bird-flu-23.htm

 

[wdcare]

Re: Mystery bird deaths (New Zealand)

http://www.hbtoday.co.nz/storyprint.cfm?storyID=3716405

TOP STORY: Seagull deaths may be poison

05.01.2007
KELLY BURNS
The Hawke's Bay Regional Council didn't have to look too far before discovering who was likely to be behind the deaths of seagulls found scattered around Waimarama last month.

It was probably council staff.

A council report states "it appeared that the seagull deaths at Waimarama had been caused by the gulls coming into contact with poisons which had been laid during the annual council rook programme."

That effectively meant the council may have poisoned the gulls in early December, although not intentionally.

Hawke's Bay Today was contacted by several concerned Waimarama residents who had found the dead and dying birds.



When the regional council recovered the dead birds staff said they would conduct tests to see how they were killed. They also took samples from nearby water.
No mention was made of the rook poisoning programme. However, regional council team leader of compliance Bryce Lawrence said it was too early tell the cause of death, but the birds symptoms suggested poisoning was possible.

Tests had yet to be completed by BioSecurity as workloads in laboratories had been heavy before Christmas. Council investigating officers were away on holiday and could not be contacted for comment on the rook programme.

About 20 dead seagulls were found on Waimarama beach last month and speculation ran rife as to what caused the deaths.

Department of Conservation (DOC) area manager Ken Hunt said if the deaths were caused by council poison it would be regrettable.

However he supported the council's approach to tackling rooks. Getting rid of the pests was more beneficial than harming a few seagulls.

While seagulls were a native bird, they were not endangered. Rooks were an aggressive bird, destructive to farming and a threat to natural bird wildlife, Mr Hunt said.