Re: [MDOsprey] Cedar waxwing mortalities
Norm Saunders (osprey@ARI.Net)
Fri, 4 Jun 1999 18:47:28 -0500
Your findings from the mid-1970s don't surprise me, Charlie. We have
Autumn Olives planted along one side of our back yard and on years
when they have a good fruit crop, we've seen the local mockingbirds
acting in decidedly bizarre ways after pigging out on the ripened fruits.
I mean, mockers can act a little weird at the best of times, but a drunk
mocker is a true sight to behold.
Oh, and regards seasickness....I just make sure I stand upwind of
Franny and I'm usually safe...grin.
Best,
Norm
From: stamps@sea-east.com
Date sent: Fri, 04 Jun 1999 09:09:36 -0400
To: mdosprey@ARI.Net
Subject: [MDOsprey] Cedar waxwing mortalities
Send reply to: mdosprey@ARI.Net
> Norm,
>
> The Cedar Waxwing observation below bring to mind a very similar circumstance
> that we were involved with in 1974-75. Our daughter, Daphne, who at that
> time was 8-9 years old, found dead Cedar Waxwings at her school. She
> picked some of them up and put them in her lunch box and brought them
> home. I wrote the following to Fred Scott of Richmond, VA, who at that
> time was regional editor for Audubon Field Notes,
>
> "Cedar waxwings were very noticeable in the Salisbury are late
> Feb. and most of March. Many (30+) died at a local school where
> they ate fermented berries, got intoxicated and flew into windows
> and brick walls (honest - we had an autopsy done.)"
>
> The birds were eating the berries from an ornamental planting at the
> school. The bushes were planted along a walkway between two sections of
> the school. The walkway had glass panels along the length. Most of the
> birds were killed as they tried to fly through the glass panels while
> swarming around the berried bushes.
>
> Memory fails on the details of the great bird kill of '75, but Gail took
> several of the birds to the Univ. of MD extension service here in
> Salisbury. They sent the birds for an autopsy to try to figure out what
> was going on. We had exactly the same questions that the VA people
> express below; were the birds simply killing themselves because of lack
> of attention to a local hazard, or was there something else going on?
> Gail went to the school and observed a number of the birds on the
> ground, some of them some distance from the windows. She was able to
> approach and pick up live birds - even ones that had not apparently
> collided with the windows.
>
> The only funny part of the story is that the second day Daphne brought
> home birds we got a call from the school principal's office wanting to
> know if we were aware of the strange behavior of our daughter. They
> thought she was putting the birds in her lunch box for a later snack.
> She had explained that we were birdbanders and otherwise interested in
> birds. The school thought that too convenient a cover story so had to
> check further into their deviant student's behavior.
>
> Charlie
>
> P.S. - Don't believe everything you read about what to do about seasickness.
>
>
>
>
> At 06:17 PM 6/3/99 -0500, you wrote:
> >Carol Jelich of the Anne Arundel Chapter brings this to my attention and
> >I thought y'all might be interested.
> >
> >Norm
> >------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
> >From: "Carol Jelich" <jrj_csj@mindspring.com>
> >To: "Saunders, Norm" <osprey@ari.net>, <dolesh@aol.com>
> >Subject: Cedar waxwing mortalities
> >Date sent: Thu, 3 Jun 1999 13:16:22 -0400
> >
> >This disturbing e-mail was forwarded to me by Britt Slattery of the US Fish
> >and Wildlife Service, Chesapeake Bay Field Office. I'm passing it along to
> >you for possible MOS interest.
> >
> >I don't know if this stuff is still planted by the state and counties in Md,
> >but it shouldn't be. I'm sure what they're describing is actually Eleagnus
> >angustifolia, Russian Olive, and it's listed as a nasty invasive species by
> >the Maryland Native Plant Society (even if the birds do love the fruits!)
> >____________________________________________________________________________
> >___
> >-- Carol
> >
> >From: rick_giovengo@mail.fws.gov
> >To: <kegiovengo@aol.com>
> >Subject: Cedar Waxwing Mortalities
> >
> > FYI
> >
> >____________________________ Forward Header
> >__________________________________
> >Subject: Cedar Waxwing Mortalities
> >Author: Terry Tarr at FWS
> >Date: 04/30/1999 11:49 AM
> >
> >From: Don Patterson AT 5HA-RLE@5HA~MAIN1 on 04/30/99 10:45 AM MDT
> >
> >To: Terry Tarr/R5/FWS/DOI, George Haas
> >
> >Subject: Cedar Waxwing Mortalities
> >
> > ****Please pass this message to SA's, Ecological Services, Refuges
> >
> > On April 22, Agent Holmes discovered dead birds in the median strip
> > of The Downtown Expressway in Richmond, Virginia. Eric recovered
> > approximately 145 dead Cedar Waxwings. The birds appeared to have
> > been feeding on Elegunes Angustifiola, a shrub, six to fourteen
> > foot tall which bears a fleshy, pinkish berry in early Spring.
> > This shrub is used by Virginia Department of Transportation as a
> > visual, "glare barrier" in Interstate and divided highways in the
> > area (median) between opposing lanes.
> > On April 28, we returned with VDOT officials to this scene. 16
> > more Cedar Waxwings were picked up with 1 Robin and 2 Doves.
> > After leaving VDOT, we crossed town and saw the same shrub in the
> > median, east of Richmond. We stopped and recovered 132 Cedar
> > Waxwing carcasses and 3 Robins.
> > On April 29, Al Hundley and I searched another area of about one
> > mile on I64 east of Richmond and recovered 71 Cedar Waxwings, 1
> > Cardinal, and 1 Robin.
> > We will search another area today, April 30.
> > Observations yesterday of Cedar Waxwings indicate that they ;simply
> > are highly attracted to the shrub and are hit by traffic attempting
> > to enter or exit the median. We had at first, thought the berry
> > may be an intoxicant rendering the birds more susceptable to
> > vehicle collision. We have not ruled that out and lab tests are
> > pending. But we now believe the birds are just highly attracted
> > during their migration.
> >
> > VDOT says they plant this shrub "all over the state". We have
> > searched maybe 2 miles and have recovered 364 Cedar Waxwings.
> > We do not know how widespread the use of this shrub is by other
> > states; hence this alert. This appears to be a significant
> > mortality issue that is species specific.
> >
> > SRA Patterson
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >===============
> >Norm Saunders
> >Colesville, MD
> >osprey@ari.net
> >
>
===============
Norm Saunders
Colesville, MD
osprey@ari.net