For The Birds

We've been finding quite a few dead birds in our yard lately.  We've found four or five this summer, and that's more than we've found in all the years we've had the bird feeder in our yard.

It's mostly Sparrows and House Finches that we've found.  They usually hang around the feeder for a while, looking puffy and bloated and sometimes showing some downy feathers, which leads us to think some of them might be pretty young.  Shortly after that we find them dead.

We don't know if this is some sort of disease epidemic going around or if they're ingesting something toxic.  We've checked with the company where we buy the seed and they've assured us that they don't use pesticides.  We put in a inquiry to the San Diego Audubon Society, but haven't heard from them.

Cindy also asked the San Diego County Vector Control Program about what might be killing these birds, but they are concerned with larger birds, who tend to be at the top of the food chain and are the ones who may contract and die from the West Nile virus.  They just don't have the resources to investigate smaller birds.

If you find a dead Crow, Raven, Jay, Hawk, Owl or Falcon, please report it to Vector Control at:  http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/deh/pests/wnv/services/chd_wnv_report_dead_birds.html.

I've just found that smaller birds or all types can be reported to the California Department of Public Health at:  http://www.westnile.ca.gov/report_wnv.php

We'll report any future birds we find, although we're hoping we won't find any more.