-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: January 10, 2007 8:43:47 PM PST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Bird Droppings
Birds fall from sky over town
By Amanda O'Brien
January 10, 2007 01:00am
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21035741-2,00.html
[Australia} THOUSANDS of birds have fallen from the skies over
Esperance and no one knows why.
Is it an illness, toxins or a natural phenomenon? A string of
autopsies in Perth have shed no light on the mystery.
All the residents of flood-devastated Esperance know is that their
"dawn chorus" of singing birds is missing.
The main casualties are wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, new
holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters, although some dead
crows, hawks and pigeons have also been found.
Wildlife officers are baffled by the "catastrophic" event, which
the Department of Environment and Conservation said began well
before last week's freak storm.
On Monday, Esperance, 725km southeast of Perth, was declared a
natural disaster zone.
District nature conservation co-ordinator Mike Fitzgerald said the
first reports of birds dropping dead in people's yards came in
three weeks ago. More than 500 deaths had since been notified. But
the calls stopped suddenly last week, reportedly because no birds
were left.
"It's very substantial. We estimate several thousand birds are
dead, although we don't have a clear number because of the large
areas of bushland," Mr Fitzgerald said.
Birds Australia, the nation's main bird conservation group, said it
had not heard of a similar occurrence. "Not on that scale, and all
at the same time, and also the fact that it's several different
species," chief executive Graeme Hamilton said. "You'd have to call
that a most unusual event and one that we'd all have to be
concerned about."
He expected birds would return to the area once the problem -
natural or man-made phenomenon - was fixed but said it was vital
the cause was identified.
The Department of Agriculture and Food, which conducted the
autopsies, has almost ruled out an infectious process.
Acting chief veterinary officer Fiona Sunderman said toxins were
the most likely cause but the deaths could be due to anything from
toxic algae to chemicals and pesticides.
Dr Sunderman said there were no leads yet on which of potentially
hundreds of toxins might be responsible. Some birds were seen
convulsing as they died.
Michelle Crisp was one of the first to contact the DEC after
finding dozens of dead birds on her property one morning.
She told The Australian she normally had hundreds of birds in her
yard, but that she and a neighbour counted 80 dead birds in one day.
"It went to the point where we had nothing, not a bird," she said.
"It was like a moonscape, just horrible. But the frightening thing
for us, we didn't find any more birds after that. We literally
didn't have any birds left to die."
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