Subject: Earthquake-related deaths?
Date: Mar 1 14:25:49 2001
From: Jack & Linda Kintner - kintner at nas.com


Pine Siskins, because they flock together tightly, can share a type of salmonella, the evidence of which is the occasional dead bird in or around your feeder. Some years it's worse than others. Clean your feeders, since it's passed by walking around in fecal material. If your feeder has a tray to catch the seeds which the bords can get to, take it off.

I have had a few dead ones now and then around my feeders this year, too, but it stopped with adequate cleaning on a daily basis. In a month I'll let their feeders go empty and then toss the cheap plastic ones away.

At 01:33 PM 3/1/01 -0800, you wrote:
>Hello, I am new to this list, but here goes:
>
>Shortly after yesterday's earthquake, I found a dead pine siskin in my
>feeder. It was inside the caged portion of a "haven" feeder, so it was
>not killed by a predator.
>
>I imagine it died of a heart attack caused by fright, because of the
>earthquake. Is this a reasonable assumption? Have other people observed
>dead birds after an earthquake? Is anybody keeping track of related
>data?
>
>Thank you.
>
>Laura Friend, Newcastle, WA (lcf at u.washington.edu)