gabby
Trail Wise!
Posts: 4,537 
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Post by gabby on Sept 15, 2020 17:26:19 GMT -8
I just read this article in the NY Times. Apparently, people are finding dead birds in New Mexico everywhere. No one seems to have an explanation. ALBUQUERQUE — Huge numbers of migratory birds are dropping dead around New Mexico as scientists scramble to determine what is triggering one of the Southwest’s largest bird die-offs in recent memory.
After people began finding the dead birds in recent days in locations ranging from hiking trails to suburban driveways and golf courses, the mystery of what is causing the die-off has intensified.
Biologists are examining whether the wildfires on the West Coast may be a factor in the deaths, with smoke plumes potentially altering migration routes or increasing the toxins inhaled by birds.
www.nytimes.com/2020/09/15/us/dead-birds-new-mexico-colorado.html |
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desert dweller
Trail Wise!
Power to the Peaceful...Hate does not create.
Posts: 6,291
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Post by desert dweller on Sept 15, 2020 18:29:52 GMT -8
The California wildfires were the first thing that popped into my mind.
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gabby
Trail Wise!
Posts: 4,537
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Post by gabby on Sept 15, 2020 19:03:22 GMT -8
Yeah, dd: A lot of stuff is going on here. There has recently been a fairly precipitous decline in insect populations as well. Migratory birds depend on a steady supply of insects to live. All of these things are related. I'm starting to feel lucky that I'm not going to live more than 10 years or so, but I feel really bad about the Republican "kill earth" policy. This isn't going to be a pleasant thing to watch, or to live through.
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Post by autumnmist on Sept 15, 2020 20:24:20 GMT -8
I noted that birds were found at the White Sands Missile Range; my first thought was that some testing of something or other was going on there, but I think the wildfire effect makes more sense. I would anticipate that necropsies would be performed and would be revealing, as well as the weather patterns just before the birds died. gabby, I too am beginning to think that being old has some benefits. I might not be around when the results of Republican scorched earth policies expand, although I am concerned about the younger generation. Earlier today I found this article on how wildfire smoke affects humans; perhaps it affects birds in the same way. Now I'm wondering about animals, both wild and domestic. www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/how-breathing-in-wildfire-smoke-affects-the-body/ar-BB194C3J?ocid=msedgntp |
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Sept 16, 2020 8:24:01 GMT -8
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walkswithblackflies
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Resident terrorist-supporting eco-freak bootlicker
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Sept 16, 2020 10:55:46 GMT -8
I wonder how many of these birds are refugees from the fires, rather than migrants that happened to pass through the smoke? {"The house is on fire. We might as well go to Mexico early this year, dear."}
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Post by swmtnbackpacker on Sept 16, 2020 11:22:05 GMT -8
The Rio Grande migratory Route (which goes beyond just the Rio) is a long standing bird flyway and all the stakeholders along the way (including land managing elements of DoD) are fully onboard with preserving the water the birds need enroute. So I’m suspecting the smoke of which some comes from AZ fires too.
There is an afternoon haze in the desert Southwest which may be lower than the haze making its way back East (stratosphere by then), so my first guess
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