Not sure if folks have seen this....this is the first I read of this.
Cheers
Dave Lauten
*OREGON CROSSBILLS*
With so many folks sheltering in place these days, there seems to be an
increase in backyard birding, and that has also included more backyard
bird-feeding. The increasing spread and interest in bird-feeding is
usually a wonderful thing and a great experience, especially for those
people getting to seriously learn about birds for the first time.
But there are also a few disappointing lessons to be learned as well,
one of which is happening to Red Crossbills reportedly dying by the
hundreds in Central Oregon.
The source of the problem may be salmonella, a naturally occurring
bacteria found in the intestine of birds, but potentially very dangerous
to them. When transmitted from bird to bird, the bacteria can be fatal.
Salmonella infections in birds are often a common occurrence in winter,
but a summer outbreak is less common. And it may be transmitted at
feeders, which are more active this year because more people are staying
home.
Elise Wolf, the director of Native Bird Care in Sisters, Oregon, has
called the situation an outbreak. "This has been a bad year," she
reported in late July, "And unfortunately, it's across the region, so
it's not just isolated in one area. It's everywhere."
"Part of the problem we have with salmonella outbreaks is that through
bird feeding, we congregate (the birds) into isolated areas, and that
just makes it really easy for an infection to spread to the other
birds," Wolf said. The situation is not unlike our human pandemic: If
you encourage a gathering of organisms - humans or birds - together in
one area you can easily spread infections.
Removing the feeders - i.e., eliminating the gathering-places - may be
the best thing to do. Scrubbing the feeders - and birdbaths - every two
or three days may also help control the situation. To consider some
other options for addressing the current situation from Central Oregon,
see the link below presented by Elise Wolf:
http://www.nativebirdcare.org/blog/red-crossbills-dying-throughout-co
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