I talked to the lady at Green Lake this morning and she found 3 more dead swallows this morning. All of them are trying to roost under her eaves out of the weather. She knows an ornithologist at the WDFW and will contact him to see if she can get the birds to the right place for testing.


Sherry Hagen
Vancouver, WA
littlebirder at comcast.net

From: Wayne Weber
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 7:11 AM
To: TWEETERS
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] Dying Swallows in the Ridgefield area

Tweeters,



I suspect that Sherry is correct and that the cause of the swallow mortality is starvation. However, in cases like this where large numbers of dead birds are found, some of the dead birds should ALWAYS be taken to a facility where autopsies can be done and the cause of death determined. I am sure that officials with WDFW or the US Fish & Wildlife Service could help in recommending a facility where autopsies could be done.



There have been numerous incidents in the Pacific Northwest where mass mortality of birds has been caused by pesticide applications or by diseases such as botulism, aspergillosis, or salmonella outbreaks. Although this seems unlikely with swallows, post-mortem investigations should be done to ensure that infectious diseases or poisoning are not the cause of the mortality. Speculation will not answer the question of why the birds died.



Wayne C. Weber

Delta, BC

contopus at telus.net







From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Sherry Hagen
Sent: September-30-13 10:23 PM
To: tweeters message
Subject: [Tweeters] Dying Swallows in the Ridgefield area



Since I wrote about the 10 Barn Swallows found dead earlier this evening, I have learned about 58 Barn and Violet-Green Swallows found dead around the Plank House at the Ridgefield NWR and another 2 dozen young Tree Swallows found dead near Green Lake where the Barn Swallows were found. The weather the past few days and last night must have played havoc on the food supply and migration of the swallows.


Sherry Hagen
Vancouver, WA
littlebirder at comcast.net



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