Hello group.


These posts now have my attention. Do others have thoughts and reports on similar mass deaths?
I certainly enjoy viewing birds. Perhaps some of us can think about what we can do if this turns out to be a significant problem.
We have a lot of creative problem solvers in the group. If there are patterns to the locations and history of events I would like to know more about them.


Janet, I have attached your post so that others can follow the conversation.


Thanks,
Dan Reiff

----- Original Message -----
From: "Janet Millard" < tilia at drizzle.com>
To: tweeters at u. washington . edu
Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 12:18:20 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Birds sitting on the road in rural Eastern Washington

The event described below was all to common to us residents of Leavenworth
and surrounding areas a few years back. Hundreds of siskins , finches, and
possibly crossbills were clobbered all winter long, mostly along the
section of Stevens Pass from Mill Valley nordic center to Yodelin . We
sent our reports to WSDOT who did some analysis - and biologists from
USFS , USFWS , & WDFW all chimed in. The conclusion we came to was that
these seed-eating birds needed grit to process the seeds in their crop,
and the snow that year was amazingly deep. Without a "natural" source of
grit they turned to the roads. The problem was the salty material that
was sprayed on the roads to reduce the icing for safe travel. The salt
was injested along with the grit, causing a sort of "salt poisoning". The
birds OD'd on salt and were mentally/physiologically incapacitated to the
point that they were not able to avoid being killed by cars. Entire
flocks were sometimes killed with new flocks seen foraging for grit among
the dead. Tragic and heartbreaking.

Janet Millard
Leavenworth, WA
( USFS wildlife bio tech)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dennis Paulson " < dennispaulson at comcast.net>
To: tweeters at u. washington . edu
Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2010 1:37:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Re: What did the birds do in cold weather before any paved roads


Dan and tweeters,


Having worked in museums for all of my adult years, I can tell you that grit-eating birds are among the most common road kills received by museums as salvaged birds. Doves, pigeons, gallinaceous birds, and Horned Larks all feed on or at the edge of roads, as none of them crack seeds with their bills in the way that finches do, so they need the gravel to aid doing so in their stomach. I think corvids probably are similar, and when you see jays out at the edge of the road in forested areas early in the morning, I suspect they are getting grit, true or otherwise.


Thus I don't think putting out a few grit feeders will alleviate the problem, as it's happening all along our roadways. I don't know if there are any recommendations we could be giving to state Departments of Transportation, but someone might look into that.


The feeding of crossbills , siskins , grosbeaks and other winter finches along the highways, sometimes a great source of mortality, is probably not for grit but for some mineral(s) on the road, possibly even the salt put out by road departments. Fortunately that's a rare event.


Swallows sometimes land on roads in great numbers, and that's another thing altogether. That may even have to do with retained heat on the road surface.


Traffic on roads certainly represents significant mortality to birds and other animals, but other than very local fixes (tunnels for large mammals, special herp crossings in some very few areas), I don't think much has been done to alleviate it, and it's hard to imagine how such mortality can be reduced for birds. Very wide clearings along roads in forested areas probably keep small birds off the roads but also represent barriers to dispersal. Fewer and slower vehicles, anyone?


Dennis


On Dec 16, 2010, at 12:04 PM, tweeters-request at mailman2.u. washington . edu wrote:


Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:24:41 +0000 ( UTC )
From: notcalm at comcast.net
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Re: What did the birds do in cold weather
before any paved roads
To: Scott R a y < mryakima at gmail .com >
Cc: Tweeters < tweeters at u. washington . edu >

Thanks, Scott.

It seems the problem is not limited to these two species.
If the primary reason to approach and land on or next to the road is a search for grit and more so than or not heat, perhaps we can arrange for certain small, off road, non- parking areas to be cleared for that purpose. Grit would certainly be easy to add. It might be an interesting experiment in mountain passes, if grit is not readily available in snow covered areas. It would be the equivalent of a small, protected area with ground level bird feeder (true grit only). The gulls on the other hand(great photo) are probably not looking for grit.


However, I do not know if it is a significant problem. Does anyone have estimates of mortality for these situations? Perhaps it is rare.
Have any of you supplied grit in a small area in your yard?


Dan Reiff



-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net




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