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Hundreds of birds found dead, dying at 2 MN lakes
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials made a disturbing discovery in two lakes, finding hundreds of birds dead or dying.
Officials say double-crested cormorants, pelicans, ring-billed gulls and a great blue heron were found last week at Minnesota Lake in Faribault County and Pigeon Lake in Meeker County.
DNR biologists say the dead birds included 687 cormorants and 37 pelicans. DNR workers discovered the dead and dying birds while banding pelicans.
Before heading into the troubled waters of Minnesota Lake, DNR Area Wildlife Manager Joel Anderson wrapped himself in protective clothing and putting on heavy boots.
Beyond the shoreline and farther than the eye can see he's cleaning up a small island, following the disturbing, yet mysterious discovery.
"They noticed and found a lot of dead cormorants and few pelicans," said Anderson. On Minnesota Lake, more than 300 cormorants and more than three dozen pelicans were found dead.
Some birds were still alive, but they were suffering from a health problem. Many could not hold up their heads or breathe, and they were close to dying. Officials believe the birds had been there for several days.
"We know it's some type of wildlife disease, but we don't know what it is yet," said Anderson.
Initial tests for avian influenza were negative, but officials say the cause of the bird illness hasn't been determined yet.
The scene at Minnesota Lake is just like the one at Pigeon Lake, a hundred miles away. DNR officials found a few hundred more dead birds that had been there for two, possibly three weeks.
They think birds flying between the two lakes might have spread the disease. Right now, officials believe the problem at both lakes is related, but they're not exactly sure.
Anderson said he will euthanize the sick animals on the island on Minnesota Lake. He and other experts don't want more birds to come down with the same thing.
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This is so sad.There is something not right with nature. Not only are birds dying, but fish in the Great Lakes as well due to some sort of virus, and of course, colony collapse disorder with bees. My question is, how long until one gets to humans? Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials made a disturbing discovery in two lakes, finding hundreds of birds dead or dying.... more -
Mystery as dead birds fall from the sky over Western Australia
Dead birds are falling from the sky in Australia for the second time in seven months, raising fears of a possible public health threat.
At least 200 seagulls have been found dead in Perth's popular beachside suburbs of Woodman Point and Henderson this week, baffling local authorities.
Post-mortem examinations have failed to determine the cause of the birds' deaths. Last December 5,000 birds died in the coastal town of Esperance, 500 km south of Perth, after being poisoned by lead carbonate blowing through the town as it was being exported through Esperance Port.
The latest incident of dropping birds has led to a major investigation of local industries but government officials admit they are at a loss to know what is killing the gulls. A Department of Health spokesman admitted they could not rule out a risk to public health until the cause of the birds' deaths had been established.
When the Esperance birds began dying, tests showed that local children and adults had potentially dangerous levels of lead in their blood. A local company, Magellan Metals, escaped prosecution over the way it handled the transportation of lead through the town, but fears remain over the potential threat to humans.
The Department of Environment and Conservation (DoEC) believes the latest deaths may have been caused by a chemical or pollutant. The birds were found on Monday and Tuesday near water outfall pipes at Woodman Point, south of Fremantle and at nearby Henderson which has a large boat-building industry. Water and sediment samples have been taken from the area for testing.
Kevin Morrison, from the DoEC, said the birds appeared to die a quick and painless death.
"The birds, when they are showing signs of having been poisoned become a bit wobbly on their feet, they sit down and within 10 to 15 minutes they're dead," he told the Australian Broadcasting Coproration. He said it was particularly puzzling that the deaths were confined to seagulls. In Esperance, wattle birds, yellow throated miners and honey-eaters died.
Although many of the birds were found near the outflow pipes, Mr Morrison said the birds may already have ingested something toxic at a rubbish or landfall site before going there for water as they died.
The beach at Woodman Point, a popular sailing and fishing area, has been closed as a precaution until further notice. Officials do not expect the test results on the birds for a week. Dead birds are falling from the sky in Australia for the second time in seven months, raising fears of a possible public health threat... more -
Rare conjoined twin birds
"A pair of conjoined barn swallows, attached at the hip by skin and possibly muscle tissue, will be sent to the Smithsonian Institution for study and examination, Arkansas wildlife officials said Friday. If confirmed, officials say it could prove to be an incredibly rare find — a set of conjoined twins among birds.
"I can't even say it's one in a million — it's probably more than that," said Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. "There's just very little to no records of such a thing."
The birds, found by a landowner in White County earlier this week, fell out of a nest as a healthy sibling flew off to learn how to hunt with its parents, Rowe said. The birds first appeared to have only three legs, but further examination found a fourth leg tucked up underneath the skin connecting the pair.
Rowe said the landowner likely kept the birds for a day before calling wildlife officials. By the time officials arrived, the two birds refused to eat. One of the birds died early Friday morning and a veterinarian later euthanized the other.
While conjoined twins have been documented in humans, other mammals and reptiles, finding conjoined birds is difficult, as they likely die before being discovered, Rowe said. X-rays of the pair found each bird was fully formed, Rowe said. Scientists at the Smithsonian will examine the birds to determine whether they were fraternal twins or identical twins.
Rowe said the birds would have had to come from a double-yolk egg.
Barn swallows hunt insects in flight and make mud nests. The typical bird can live for several years, though the conjoined twins might not have lived that long even if they had been successfully separated. Rowe said it would have been difficult to teach the birds to fly.
"It's just amazing to think they were attached and had two brains," Rowe said.
Too bad they died though, maybe they could have separated them. "A pair of conjoined barn swallows, attached at the hip by skin and possibly muscle tissue, will be sent to the Smithsonian Institutio... more -
Conjoined barn swallows cause stir
A pair of conjoined barn swallows, attached at the hip by skin and possibly muscle tissue, will be sent to the Smithsonian Institution for study and examination, Arkansas wildlife officials said Friday.
If confirmed, officials say it could prove to be an incredibly rare find — a set of conjoined twins among birds. "I can't even say it's one in a million — it's probably more than that," said Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. "There's just very little to no records of such a thing."
The birds, found by a landowner in White County earlier this week, fell out of a nest as a healthy sibling flew off to learn how to hunt with its parents, Rowe said. The birds first appeared to have only three legs, but further examination found a fourth leg tucked up underneath the skin connecting the pair.
Rowe said the landowner likely kept the birds for a day before calling wildlife officials. By the time officials arrived, the two birds refused to eat. One of the birds died early Friday morning and a veterinarian later euthanized the other.
While conjoined twins have been documented in humans, other mammals and reptiles, finding conjoined birds is difficult, as they likely die before being discovered, Rowe said. X-rays of the pair found each bird was fully formed, Rowe said. Scientists at the Smithsonian will examine the birds to determine whether they were fraternal twins or identical twins. Rowe said the birds would have had to come from a double-yolk egg.
(Excerpts / SFGate) A pair of conjoined barn swallows, attached at the hip by skin and possibly muscle tissue, will be sent to the Smithsonian Institution... more -
What the f*ck happened to this bird?!
Some are calling Photoshop - others are happy to accept this auto-translated account by the Danish photographer:
http://translate.google.ca/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww...
What do you think? Snopes, we need you! Some are calling Photoshop - others are happy to accept this auto-translated account by the Danish photographer: ... more -
The Bird that inspired Mozart developed 'super muscles' for its song
The vocal prowess of the European starling, the bird who's song is said to have inspired Mozart after he kept one as a pet, has been revealed by a new study.
Mozart was amazed by the variation of his bird's vocal repertoire, and scientists have now discovered that the birds' throat muscles have the ability to "contract a hundred times faster than the blink of a human eye", leading to their amazing ability to produce many different types of sound in rapid succession.
These muscle types, also observed in the zebra finch of Australia, are "the fastest contracting muscle type yet described" in any animal. The study found that their inspiring songs are made possible by muscles which can turn "individual elements of a song on and off at a rate of 250 times a second".
It is thought that such an ability may have evolved to allow better communication between birds, possibly to distinguish one's own species amongst the hundreds of others in the dawn chorus. The vocal prowess of the European starling, the bird who's song is said to have inspired Mozart after he kept one as a pet, has been r... more -
World Record to Mimic 151 Different Types of Birds Sound
For the last three years, Gautam Sapkota has been after birds and only birds. He follows birds in national parks, forests, nearby gardens and the central zoo in Kathmandu and spends his time imitating their sounds -- the way the birds communicate with each other in different situations. And it is hard to believe that within a span of three years, he has been able to mimic 151 different types of birds.
For Full Story
http://www.worldamazingrecords.com For the last three years, Gautam Sapkota has been after birds and only birds. He follows birds in national parks, forests, nearby gard... more -
100 million year-old feathers show their true colours
"Striking" bands of black and white have been observed in fossilised birds. It had been suggested that the different hues were of geological origin, and formed long after the animal lived. Now however, a team from the University of Bristol, UK, believes that "The banding looks so life-like that it can't be geological in origin - it has to be biological".
This however poses scientists with a problem in that organic mollecules, which are usually responsible for colouration in animals, decay in only a few thousand years, while these colours have persisted for 100,000 times that. But the Bristol team, lead by Professor Mike Benton, believe they have found the answer: "Microscopic analysis of the dark bands showed they displayed a distinctive granular texture, made from thousands of tiny, densely-packed flattened spheres". These structures have been identified as a particular type of cell which, in modern birds, "cluster into the dark areas [of their feathers]". Somehow these cells, called 'melansomes', have been retained and fossilised along with the skeleton, so that the colour banding is preserved much as it would have looked in life. Significantly, the uncoloured fossil feathers did not contain the flattened spheres, providing strong evidence that "the feathers once displayed distinct black and white stripes".
Furthermore, a team in Yale believes that it could identify specific colours, and could be applied "to reveal the colour of fur or even eyes" of other extinct creatures.
"Striking" bands of black and white have been observed in fossilised birds. It had been suggested that the different hues were of geol... more -
Dinosaurs Now in Color!
Researchers have found pigments in fossilized feathers, opening the possibility of finding out the colors of animals extinct long ago. Can you imagine pink and striped dinosaurs? That is probably a bit of a stretch but by finding out their true color we will be able to know more about their surrounding environment throughand possibly some courtship rituals.
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Crows Cool Off
Photos of crows cooling off at a public paddling pool at Clapham Common in London, England.
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Pigeons deliver drugs to Brazilian inmates
Sao Paulo state prison authorities discover a smuggling scheme using pigeons to deliver drugs and mobile phones to inmates.
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Pigeons killed at Wimbledon
PETA is attacking the organizers of the Wimbledon tournament for calling in marksmen to shootdown dive-bombing pigeons that were distracting players and leaving droppings on the tables of the open-air restaurant.
The main concern, Wimbledon spokesperson Johnny Perkins said, was the health hazard of bird droppings.
Perkins says that usually hawks are employed to scare off any pigeons that may interfere with the intense matches at Wimbledon, but in this case, the hawks couldn't completely cover all the areas needed.
PETA calls this action "cruel and illegal behaviour" that was used more so as an initial tactic than a last resort solely because the pigeons were a distraction to the players, not because of a public health concern as Wimbledon organizers claim.
What do you think? Were the organizers using the guise of public health to kill the pigeons?
To me, I guess the reason doesn't matter...I just which killing the pigeons was just not one of the possibilities to be taken into consideration. PETA is attacking the organizers of the Wimbledon tournament for calling in marksmen to shootdown dive-bombing pigeons that were distr... more -
Screech Owl family!
Screech owls take up shelter in 2 back yard boxes on cape cod in late April.
By early June the adult works to get the young to leave the nest. Screech owls take up shelter in 2 back yard boxes on cape cod in late April. ... more -
Orphaned chicks have singing lessons
Chicks that have been orphaned are being played the dawn chorus in the hope that they'll learn the vocal skills needed as adults. The RSCPA are playing birdsong CDs twice a day to their orphans.
I hope they're not teaching them to dance to The Birdy Song by The Tweets. Chicks that have been orphaned are being played the dawn chorus in the hope that they'll learn the vocal skills needed as adults. The ... more -
Woman quarantined with bird mite infestation
There was a warning issued Thursday to homeowners after a Long Island woman's home was infested with "blood-sucking" parasites. It wasn't bed bugs that caused the problem, but bird mites.
"I was hysterical crying last night," said Crystal Shea, the daughter of the bird mite victim. "You know, I feel terrible for her. How do you watch your mom come out in a hazmat suit?"
The emotional daughter of the bird mite victim shared ominous looking photos of her mother being suited up in bio containment gear by emergency medical technicians responding to her S.O.S. from her Levittown home. They stripped her of her clothing, shoes, carted off her mattress, confiscated the wild bird nest from a bathroom vent and transported the patient to the quarantine unit at Nassau University Medical Center.
CBS 2 HD spoke by phone with patient Nina Bradica from her hospital bed in the isolation unit.
"My whole shower was covered with them," said Bradica, 45. "I didn't even know they were there at first, I was drying myself with my towel in the bathroom. That's how they got on me."
One of Bradica's doctors told CBS 2 HD bird mites can be a very severe problem.
"They can be a nuisance and some people have been infected for years with these bird mites and have had difficulty eradicating them," said Dr. Kenneth Steier.
Added Dr. Shadab Ahmed of Nassau Medical Center, "They can stick to the body. They are extremely tiny. I just sent three to be tested to the parasitology lab for identification."
Doctors say there is absolutely no public health hazard. Mites can't feed off human skin and will eventually drop off, but until then …
"They were biting her all night long," Shea said. "They were coming out of her ears, her nose, some other places."
Bradica tried to describe her discomfort.
"They do go inside you. They go in your nose. They go in your ears. They go in your mouth."
The victim's irate family is blaming her landlord, who drove off without commenting on why the home had not been fumigated.
Bradica told CBS 2 HD she is covered with welts and red bumps and wonders if her home will ever be livable again.
Bird mites usually infest bedrooms and bathrooms, but can quickly spread to the entire house. There was a warning issued Thursday to homeowners after a Long Island woman's home was infested with "blood-sucking" parasites. It wa... more -
Plastic surgery for bald eagle
Implants for animals ...
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Stray parrot returns home after repeating its name and address
A stray parrot was reunited with its owner in Japan after repeating its name and address at the local veterinary clinic that took it in, police said.
Police captured the red-tailed African Grey, Yosuke, earlier this month after a woman called to say it was sitting on a fence in her backyard near Tokyo.
The parrot was then handed over to the animal clinic to be cared for.
It began by greeting people and singing popular children's songs, before repeating its name and address.
Police matched the name with its owner, who was reunited with Yosuke earlier this week.
The parrot had become lost two weeks ago after flying out of its cage in Nagareyama city, Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo. A stray parrot was reunited with its owner in Japan after repeating its name and address at the local veterinary clinic that took it i... more -
Man nesting giant egg on side of Rotterdam Tower
Yes, that's right. A giant egg, in a giant nest, on the side of a tower in Rotterdam, and a guy is nesting in there. It's an art project called the "Great Swallow." Gulp. Yes, that's right. A giant egg, in a giant nest, on the side of a tower in Rotterdam, and a guy is nesting in there. It's an art proje... more
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Shoplifting Seagull
Notice how the Seagull walks in cautiously, looking around a bit, and then hauls ass out. Too funny.
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