- Hello, Jeff -
-
- Remember last week on the program I said
that we will know bird flu is here when we see massive bird die offs?
I also said then that I thought bird flu is already here.
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- Well, we now have another die-off. We
never did get informaton from the Bahamas...only that the birds - an assortment
of flamingos and migratory water fowl - all suddenly died of 'old age.'
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- Did these Oregon birds all suddenly die
of old age, too?
-
- Patty
-
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- Oregon Bird Die-Off Perplexes
Scientists
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- Oregon Live
- 3-22-6
-
- Hundreds of the seabirds known as rhinoceros
auklets have washed up on the Southern Oregon coast, and scientists have
not settled on an explanation for the die-off.
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- The birds seem to be in good shape off
California and Washington, a researcher said.
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- "The questions in my mind are: is
this something that's widespread in Oregon? Is it a freak event, like a
storm or something that's going to last longer?" said seabird researcher
Dr. Julia Parrish, an associate professor of biology at the University
of Washington.
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- Explanations include a storm that killed
lots of birds as they were gathering for breeding season, and warming ocean
waters that are inhospitable to the bird's food source.
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- There were no reports of an increase
of dead auklets elsewhere, said Parrish, executive director of the Coastal
Observation and Seabird Survey Team.
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- Beach observers said the birds started
washing up this month [March 2006] off Southern Oregon, and hundreds of
carcasses, as many as 20 to 30 a mile, were reported last week.
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- The birds live most of their lives at
sea. They are scrappy, constant fliers and look like little footballs,
almost pointy on the ends, black on top and white underneath.
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- http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index
.ssf?/base/news/114290792847610.xml&coll=7&coll=7
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- Comment
- ProMED-mail
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- Rhinoceros auklets (_Cerorhinca monocerata_)
are medium sized birds, about 550 grams, mostly grey/black and white. They
have a prominent horn on their bill during breeding season. They are most
often found from British Columbia, Canada down through Washington State
and Oregon.
-
- The cause could be a number of things
mentioned in this article or even domotic acid that is responsible for
the die-off of these birds. We look forward to a definitive report regarding
the cause. - Mod.TG
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, DVM, PhD- Bus Admin,
Tropical Agricultural Economics
- Univ of West Indies
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases"
message board at:
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- http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php
-
- Also my new website:
- http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
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