This spring, we had an enormous number of robins migrate through here (Mobile).
Posted on 05/16/2007 1:06:21 PM PDT by Darnright
West Nile Virus Decimates Suburban Birds
WASHINGTON - Birds that once flourished in suburban skies, including robins, bluebirds and crows, have been devastated by West Nile virus, a study found.
Populations of seven species have had dramatic declines across the continent since West Nile emerged in the United States in 1999, according to a first-of-its-kind study. The research, to be published Thursday by the journal Nature, compared 26 years of bird breeding surveys to quantify what had been known anecdotally.
(Excerpt) Read more at enews.earthlink.net ...
We found a couple of dead birds recently (in Virginia). It's been ages since I've heard a crow, although there are plenty of the bigger ravens around.
The cats seem to be doing the birds in around here.
When west nile moved through this area bluejays seemed to be particularly hard hit but the numbers seem to have rebounded nicely.
This spring, we had an enormous number of robins migrate through here (Mobile).
Can it get rid of the pigeons?
I am sure the birds died from Global Warming rather than a virus.
Bluebirds are such neat little critters. Do you have any photos of them?
WN was hell on our crows two years ago. (In Los Angeles) They’re starting to recover now. There are still less than there were three years ago, but they’ve come back. I expect that we’ll be up to our butts in WN-resistant crows in no time at all.
I live in the first area that was affected by West Nile Virus in 1999, and the bird population literally disappeared except for top level predators (raptors, eagles) and sparrows for several years. BUT, last year the birds started to return, and this year this area once again has a large enough crow population that I see garbage cans that have been attacked by crows every garbage collection day.
This area also has had a record year for the Warblers species, both for total population count and numbers of sub species viewed, according to the local birders club members in a recent newspaper article.
This spring I had a Peregrine Falcon land in my backyard. I live almost 25 miles from the closest recorded nesting site for a Peregrine Falcon pair. This species was on the endangered species list for 3 decades until removed from it in 2000. So I have hope that all birds can make a comeback.
I also heard that the same is true on the east side of Queens, the epicenter of the outbreak. Birders on Long Island are also calling this a great year for total populaiton numbers counted and species diversity sightings.
So all is not lost, though we now have to see if West Nile will become an endemic cyclical plague upon the N. American bird population.
I’m really glad they’ve come back in your area. We don’t see anywhere near the number of robins in the area, and, as I mentioned above, I’ve not heard a crow in eons.
Are you sure the black birds you’re seeing aren’t ravens?
I’m more worried at this time about the decline in our honeybees.
We have Eastern Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Robins, Cardinals, Bluejays, Brown-Headed Cowbirds, Swamp Sparrows, White-Throated Sparrows, Juncos (in winter), Eastern Orioles, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves, Grosbeaks, Goldfinches, Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds and an immature Cooper's hawk that tries to make lunch out of them from time to time. Also have Crows, Wild Turkeys, Black and Turkey vultures, and Redtail Hawks.
Regional symantics, everything black here is a ‘crow’. You are correct, it is the ravens (Corvax) which returned in great numbers.
I have also seen some American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) in one state park in the last week though.
sooo...one tenth of all the birds are dead? Or is it one tenth of a particular breed? Or is the one tenth of all the birds distributed in different percentages among the different breeds.
Decimate: 1. to destroy a great number or proportion of: The population was decimated by a plague.
2. to select by lot and kill every tenth person of.
3. Obsolete. to take a tenth of or from.
Version 2 comes from the root latin.
>sooo...one tenth of all the birds are dead? Or is it one tenth of a particular breed?<
If these reports are accurate, it’s far more, at least in some areas, than 1/10th:
“In some places, such as Maryland, crow loss was at 45 percent, and around Baltimore and Washington, 90 percent was gone, LaDeau said.”
What, no Canadian geese? ;-)
I’ve got all you mentioned but for a few days we are treated with scarlet tanagers on migration that hover over tiny ponds in the area catching the first insects of the year.
They’re over on the creek. Fortunately for our yard, they don’t like our dog.
I had no idea that West Nile Virus was causing such losses in the bird population. We are careful about leaving stagnant pooled water around the property, but it's not entirely avoidable. We live beside a stream, and there are a lot of more or less permanently wet areas nearby.
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