This was posted to GeneseeBirds but may not have been forwarded. Preliminary evidence points to starvation as the main cause of death, rather than disease.
I have recently seen an RB Merg come up from below with a crayfish or at least a shell fish of some kind. The bird didn't quite look like it was sure how to eat it and maybe it couldn't. I will post some photos. Dave W. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jenny Landry <jalan...@gw.dec.state.ny.us> Date: Wed, Mar 5, 2014 at 10:33 AM Subject: [GeneseeBirds-L] Red-breasted Mergansers To: geneseebird...@geneseo.edu FYI: A decent article that summarizes what as been going on with the sick and dying ducks including some of our preliminary pathology results. http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/environment/frozen-waters-causing-ducks-to-starve-to-death-20140304 Jenny Landry Wildlife Diversity Biologist Region 8 Bureau of Wildlife New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 6274 East Avon-Lima Road Avon, NY 14414-9519 585/226-5491 585/226-6323 fax jalan...@gw.dec.state.ny.us _______________________________________________ GeneseeBirds-L mailing list - geneseebird...@geneseo.edu https://mail.geneseo.edu/mailman/listinfo/geneseebirds-l -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
