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>Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 08:59:09 -0700
>From: Colleen_Handel at usgs.gov (Colleen Handel)
>Subject: Re: Overgrown beaks
>To: Bud Anderson <bud at frg.org>
>
>Dear Bud,
>
>Thanks for your message. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to
you, but
>I have been absolutely inundated with new sightings of deformed chickadees
(and
>other species) since the article appeared in the Anchorage Daily News.
>
>We don't know what is causing these bill deformities, or even if they are all
>being caused by the same factor. We have to consider all alternatives. One
>possibility that we are considering is that some chemical is acting as a
>hormone-disruptor. Such a compound, if it is acting at a sensitive time in
>relationship to development of the birds, could possibly interfere with
>skeletal
>development and cause the mandibles to become misaligned. Once that happens,
>overgrowth can easily occur.
>
>Please keep me apprised of any other birds with abnormal bills or any other
>type
>of structural deformity. By tracking these observations, we may get some clue
>as to the source of the problem. For a recent update on the bill deformity
>problem in Alaska, you can click on the "chickadee alert" button on our web
>site:
>
>www.absc.usgs.gov/research/bpif/bpif.html
>
>We will update the site periodically with any new information we have.
>
>Cheers,
>Colleen
>
>----------------------
>Colleen M. Handel
>Research Wildlife Biologist
>USGS-Biological Resources Division
>Alaska Biological Science Center
>1011 E. Tudor Road
>Anchorage, AK 99503-6119
>Tel: 907-786-3418
>Fax: 907-786-3636
>e-mail: colleen_handel at usgs.gov
>-----------------------
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
____
>Subject: Overgrown beaks
>From: Bud Anderson <bud at frg.org> at NBS-Internet-Gateway
>Date: 12/13/99 8:59 AM
>
>Hi Colleen,
> The Anchorage article on deformed bird beaks made it onto the local (NW)
>birding bulletin board (Tweeters) so it is getting a broader audience. I am
>a raptor biologist here in nw Washington and I have seen beak problems in
>three individual raptors in our area in recent years. These beaks are not
>deformed but rather severely overgrown.
> The first was an adult male Rough-legged Hawk wintering here about 5
>years ago. His maxilla was approximately 10-15mm longer than normal. At the
>time, I wondered how he could possibly make a living.
> The next bird was the following winter. I found a freshly-dead adult
>Red-tailed Hawk with a beak so long it could not open its mouth fully. It
>was emaciated and I assume had starved to death but I am not positive about
>that. I wish I had saved it now. This bird was located within a mile of the
>Rough-leg and I started thinking growth hormones in the agriculture
>community for lack of a better theory.
> Last year, a woman from Anacortes (near here) sent me a photo of another
>adult Red-tailed Hawk with the same type of beak. I still have the photo.
> Let me say that I have been working with raptors for 36 years and I have
>never seen this in a wild hawk before these individuals. Again, they are
>not deformed but just too long and you just don't see this here normally.
> If there is an e-mail list or some source I can follow this as it
>develops, I would be interested in subscribing.
> Thank you and good luck with your work,
>Bud Anderson
>Falcon Research Group
>Box 248
>Bow, WA 98232
>bud at frg.org
>(360) 757-1911

Bud Anderson
Falcon Research Group
Box 248
Bow, WA 98232
bud at frg.org
(360) 757-1911