i thought you all might be interested in this ....

regards,

Deborah Wisti-Peterson email:nyneve at u.washington.edu
Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash, USA
Visit me on the web: http://students.washington.edu/~nyneve/
<><><>Graduate School: it's not just a job, it's an indenture!<><><>


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 22:43:58 -0400 (EDT)

BIRD DEATHS, STARLINGS - USA (MARYLAND)
***************************************
Date: 31 Mar 2000
From: Angela M. Lee <finchley at pop.flash.net
Source: Washington Post 30 Mar 2000 [edited]


It seemed to be raining birds the afternoon of March 30 on Route 50 in
Bowie. Witnesses said 200 or more birds crash-landed on cars and pavement,
snarling traffic and startling motorists, according to Maryland authorities.

Dead birds were strewn about the highway's eastbound lanes and caught in
grills of cars. Traffic was tied up for 3 miles for about 45 minutes until
highway crews and firefighters cleaned the birds away, Maryland State
Police said.

"A witness said she saw them flying down toward the ground, and then cars
ran through the flock of them," said Cpl. Earnest Tullis. Authorities said
some motorists called in to say chickens were littering the road. A member
of a highway crew said they might have been sparrows.

But Richard Banks, a zoologist for the U.S. Geological Survey who works at
the National Museum of Natural History, said that it's unlikely that
sparrows would flock in such large numbers and that the birds were more
likely cedar waxwings. Banks recalled that more than a year ago, a large
flock of cedar waxwings became intoxicated after eating fermented berries
in Virginia, then flew into the path of cars.

Investigators from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources collected
several birds for tests to determine the cause of death, said department
spokesman John Surrick. He said the species of bird is yet to be determined
and it was unclear when they died.

"It's unusual to see a large number of birds die at the same time, but it's
not unheard of," Surrick said, adding that causes could "range from disease
to birds eating something that might have been poisonous.

--
Angela M. Lee
<finchley at pop.flash.net>

***
[2]
Date: 31 Mar 2000
From: Angela M. Lee <finchley at pop.flash.net>


The scores of birds found dead along Route 50 near Bowie on Wednesday
afternoon have been identified as starlings, but what killed them has not
been determined, officials said yesterday. Three birds were taken to the
state Department of Agriculture's College Park Animal Health Diagnostic
Laboratory for examination. State police said the rest were removed by
state highway crews. Two birds were frozen for later analysis, and 1 was to
undergo a necropsy late yesterday by James P. Davidson, the laboratory's
director and veterinary pathologist.

Police said an estimated 200 birds, some of which dropped out of the sky
and pelted passing cars, wound up strewn along the highway. There was a
report that a similar incident occurred in the same area last week.

Starlings are subject to an array of hazards, including agriculture
pesticides and poisons used to control their huge numbers. Starlings, among
the most prolific birds in North America, were introduced from Europe 110
years ago this month by an eccentric American who was fond of birds
mentioned in Shakespeare's plays. Last year, dead starlings from Maryland
were sent to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center
in Madison, Wisconsin, to determine whether they had been killed by West
Nile virus, which killed 7 people and ravaged several species of birds in
the New York area. But no starlings from anywhere in the country were found
with the virus, said Linda Glaser, a wildlife disease specialist with the
center.

Davidson said the mosquito-borne West Nile virus is one of the things the
starlings from the Route 50 incident will be checked for.

--
Angela M. Lee
<finchley at pop.flash.net>