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Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080329/NEWS/803290329
Deadly outbreak plagues N.Y. birds
By Victor Whitman
Times Herald-Record
March 29, 2008
PARKSVILLE ? A couple of weeks ago, Mary Mangini noticed a beautiful songbird with a red top, known as a redpoll, fluttering around her wood feeder that hangs from a tree out back.
Soon after, she saw one of these birds, about the size of a child's hand, lying dead beneath the feeder, then another, then a third. She saw one acting oddly tame, not moving, wings puffed out. She could have picked it up. Later it, too, died.
Saddened by the bird deaths, Mangini called around to experts. She was told that this had all the signs of the salmonella outbreak that has been killing off songbirds, especially redpolls, in the eastern states.
If you have a bird feeder
In New York, dead birds have been reported from the Capital region to the Pennsylvania border. The Department of Environmental Conservation has examined dozens. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County has had about a half dozen calls in two weeks.
"They are in the hundreds and that is just the ones that I know about," said Dr. Ward Stone, the wildlife pathologist for the DEC.
Although this outbreak means a quick death for a limited number of bird species, people should also take precautions when they find a dead bird.
Salmonella bacteria can also make a person sick with diarrhea and stomach-flu like symptoms. In this case, a person could become infected by handling a dead redpoll or a contaminated feeder without gloves, or being in contact with an infected cat that might have attacked a lethargic, sick bird. If you find a dead bird, pick it up with rubber gloves. Bury it, or put it in a bag before throwing it away.
The salmonella bacteria is shed in bird feces. The birds get infected through bird-to-bird contact, or eating infected food or water. Redpolls, normally a northern bird not seen around these parts except during harsh winters when they migrate farther south for food, are the most susceptible. Other bird species, such as goldfinches and pine siskins, also can get sick. This is a fast-acting bacteria. The birds die quickly.
Mangini isn't sure if her feeder made the birds sick, or whether they got it somewhere else and died here. She has taken the feeder down and plans to throw it away.
vwhitman@th-record.com
Also from the page:
If you find a dead bird by your feeder, it doesn't necessarily mean it got infected there. To be safe, if you find a dead bird, take the feeder down and submerge it in a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water.
Residents who find dead birds are encouraged to take down their bird feeders temporarily. Redpolls will fly north in about two weeks. Feeders can be put back up later this spring.
If you find a dead bird by your feeder, call the Department of Environmental Conservation at 518-478-3032.
Source: Cornell Cooperative Extension; Department of Environmental Conservation.
Deadly outbreak plagues N.Y. birds
By Victor Whitman
Times Herald-Record
March 29, 2008
PARKSVILLE ? A couple of weeks ago, Mary Mangini noticed a beautiful songbird with a red top, known as a redpoll, fluttering around her wood feeder that hangs from a tree out back.
Soon after, she saw one of these birds, about the size of a child's hand, lying dead beneath the feeder, then another, then a third. She saw one acting oddly tame, not moving, wings puffed out. She could have picked it up. Later it, too, died.
Saddened by the bird deaths, Mangini called around to experts. She was told that this had all the signs of the salmonella outbreak that has been killing off songbirds, especially redpolls, in the eastern states.
If you have a bird feeder
In New York, dead birds have been reported from the Capital region to the Pennsylvania border. The Department of Environmental Conservation has examined dozens. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County has had about a half dozen calls in two weeks.
"They are in the hundreds and that is just the ones that I know about," said Dr. Ward Stone, the wildlife pathologist for the DEC.
Although this outbreak means a quick death for a limited number of bird species, people should also take precautions when they find a dead bird.
Salmonella bacteria can also make a person sick with diarrhea and stomach-flu like symptoms. In this case, a person could become infected by handling a dead redpoll or a contaminated feeder without gloves, or being in contact with an infected cat that might have attacked a lethargic, sick bird. If you find a dead bird, pick it up with rubber gloves. Bury it, or put it in a bag before throwing it away.
The salmonella bacteria is shed in bird feces. The birds get infected through bird-to-bird contact, or eating infected food or water. Redpolls, normally a northern bird not seen around these parts except during harsh winters when they migrate farther south for food, are the most susceptible. Other bird species, such as goldfinches and pine siskins, also can get sick. This is a fast-acting bacteria. The birds die quickly.
Mangini isn't sure if her feeder made the birds sick, or whether they got it somewhere else and died here. She has taken the feeder down and plans to throw it away.
vwhitman@th-record.com
Also from the page:
If you find a dead bird by your feeder, it doesn't necessarily mean it got infected there. To be safe, if you find a dead bird, take the feeder down and submerge it in a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water.
Residents who find dead birds are encouraged to take down their bird feeders temporarily. Redpolls will fly north in about two weeks. Feeders can be put back up later this spring.
If you find a dead bird by your feeder, call the Department of Environmental Conservation at 518-478-3032.
Source: Cornell Cooperative Extension; Department of Environmental Conservation.