Why Do Birds Keep Dying In My Yard?

[kburn]

for the third time in 2 months i found a bird dying in my yard. same thing every time, they sit on the ground for a few hours to a day just looking around and won't move at all when approached. then they die.

could they be diseased? what's the best way to dispose of them?

the first two were pigeons but i don't know what the third one is. can anyone identify it?

[pumpuiman]

With the bird flu being so closely monitored....you should report the deaths immediately to the police, army or agriculture department.

Do NOT touch the birds. This is how passing the virus to humans happens....even coming in contact with the birds environment is dangerous.

You could be saving tens of millions of lives.....report it please.

[kburn]

does anyone know what number to call? i'm in Bangkok.

[TBWG]

for the third time in 2 months i found a bird dying in my yard. same thing every time, they sit on the ground for a few hours to a day just looking around and won't move at all when approached. then they die.

could they be diseased? what's the best way to dispose of them?

the first two were pigeons but i don't know what the third one is. can anyone identify it?

Hi

have you been spraying anything recently with pesticide?

TBWG

[LaoPo]

for the third time in 2 months i found a bird dying in my yard. same thing every time, they sit on the ground for a few hours to a day just looking around and won't move at all when approached. then they die.

could they be diseased? what's the best way to dispose of them?

the first two were pigeons but i don't know what the third one is. can anyone identify it?

That's amazing but odd also.

Is that the SAME plant-pot in all 3 cases where they die ?

LaoPo

[Jet Gorgon]

I think that is the same bird in all three snaps, LP.

Kburn, I'd follow all of Punpuiman's advice. For contacting the authorities -- maybe your embassy could give you a number?

Anyway, such a pity. It's a beautiful bird.

[kburn]

haven't sprayed any pesticide.

LP- it's the same bird.

[LaoPo]

haven't sprayed any pesticide.

LP- it's the same bird.

OK, understood.

LaoPo

[JetsetBkk]

i don't know what the third one is. can anyone identify it?

It's a "Koel": look here - http://thailandbirding.com/gallery-jorge/common-koel.htm

[tolsti]

Are you sure it is an adult bird... I'm no expert but if it is a juvenile it may have fallen from a nest somewhere above your yard. A weak juvenile will often make no attempt to fly and being a weakling will die. Survival of the fittest. The fact that another type of bird (pigeon you say) has suffered the same fate make me think that your yard and it's area is a good nesting place and that this may be literally "fallout"

Edited August 19, 2007 by tolsti

[junkofdavid2]

happened to my in my old house...

my thai employees called up some radio station assistance or something (said that was the number to call) but after a few days, there was no action at all from that radio/organization or whatever, and the bird finally died.

had my maid seal it in a plastic bag and throw it in the trash, and then sprayed her hands and arms with a he_ll of a lot of alcohol.

still wonderin what it was...

[LookSaMoon]

Contact to Bangkok Metropolitan?

Hot line 1555 or 0 2221 2141-69

[cdnvic]

With the bird flu being so closely monitored....you should report the deaths immediately to the police, army or agriculture department.

Do NOT touch the birds. This is how passing the virus to humans happens....even coming in contact with the birds environment is dangerous.

You could be saving tens of millions of lives.....report it please.

Oh, lets not repeat the bird flu hysterics of a few years ago. (Plenty of "end of the world, millions will die" posts in the archives)

It looks like a hawk of some kind. Very likely fed on a poisoned rodent. To be certain I would bag it up (wear gloves) and take it to a vet or a government agriculture office to determine for sure what it is as all we can do here is guess.

Don't leave them on the ground or cats will get at them and likely suffer the consequences.

Edited August 19, 2007 by cdnvic

[JetsetBkk]

It looks like a hawk of some kind.

For those who missed my previous post:

It's a "Koel": look here - http://thailandbirding.com/gallery-jorge/common-koel.htm

[kburn]

thanks JetsetBkk, that's the bird.

tolsti - all the birds were adults. the pigeons were good sized and the last bird, the koel, is about 25-30cm from nose to tail.

interesting bird:

"Like most other cuckoos, Koels do not build their own nests or incubate their own eggs. Instead, females lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. These 'hosts' incubate the eggs and feed the resulting young after they hatch. As Koels are large cuckoos, the young are frequently around twice the size of the foster parents that feed them."

[cdnvic]

I got the name all right, but with no info supplied I looked at the physical features and guessed that a Koel was some kind of hawk (or related).

Edited August 19, 2007 by cdnvic

[Filer]

i don't know what the third one is. can anyone identify it?

It's a "Koel": look here - http://thailandbirding.com/gallery-jorge/common-koel.htm

Thanks for the link. There are some brilliantly clear bird images on this site.

[Carmine6]

haven't sprayed any pesticide.

LP- it's the same bird.

OK, understood.

LaoPo

Scary LaoPo, I'm thinking like you now. Wasn't until I realized the first 2 weren't pictures of pigeons that I figured out it was the same bird and not 3 birds in the same spot.

[londonthai]

birds do die - in towns the cats are their main predators.

possibly all of them were cats victims - they were not killed and eaten but just injured beyond surviving the ordeal.

[Dustoff]

Three birds in two months doesn't exactly establish a pattern and the reasons they died could be many. Pigeons frequently crash into windows, someone nearby could have put out rat or other kind of poison, used a powerful insecticide spray, on and on.

I think you can pretty much discount bird flu but, as with any sick animal, wash well after handling it and if this does indeed turn into a pattern, I would contact some local university agricultural dept and take their advice as to investigation, reporting, etc..

[Aujuba]

What do you live next to? Factories etc? Are there any loose electrical wires anywhere above your yard? Do you find them after certain weather conditions such as rain? Have you asked your neighbors if they have had any bird deaths?

[larvidchr]

If you live next to me, its my dog , the other day she took two within 5 min, amazingly big as she is, easy catches a bird in flight, but throw her a goodie, and it lands on her nose, no chance of her catching that .

I don't like her doing that and scold her every time, I love that we have birds in the garden, but she seems to be addicted to doing it. She must have taken at least 15 birds in the last two years, and I worrie how many she injures, although she creeps along with her ears flat when she gets a telling off it does not stop her from doing it again when she is in the garden alone, I love her to bits but this habit of hers is sad .

Edited August 20, 2007 by larvidchr

[pumpuiman]

With the bird flu being so closely monitored....you should report the deaths immediately to the police, army or agriculture department.

Do NOT touch the birds. This is how passing the virus to humans happens....even coming in contact with the birds environment is dangerous.

You could be saving tens of millions of lives.....report it please.

Oh, lets not repeat the bird flu hysterics of a few years ago. (Plenty of "end of the world, millions will die" posts in the archives)

It looks like a hawk of some kind. Very likely fed on a poisoned rodent. To be certain I would bag it up (wear gloves) and take it to a vet or a government agriculture office to determine for sure what it is as all we can do here is guess.

Don't leave them on the ground or cats will get at them and likely suffer the consequences.

50 million people died in the last epidemic.

Experts agree that this strain could do the same.

It's not hysterics....it's facts...supported by the WHO, and every other agency you can think of.

Bagging up the bird is dangerous...as is being in it's vicinity unprotected.

Why do the guys disinfecting affected areas wear fukcing space suits if it's no big deal?

[londonthai]

the last epidemic it was sars in 2002 - a few hundred but no 50 mln

[cdnvic]

With the bird flu being so closely monitored....you should report the deaths immediately to the police, army or agriculture department.

Do NOT touch the birds. This is how passing the virus to humans happens....even coming in contact with the birds environment is dangerous.

You could be saving tens of millions of lives.....report it please.

Oh, lets not repeat the bird flu hysterics of a few years ago. (Plenty of "end of the world, millions will die" posts in the archives)

It looks like a hawk of some kind. Very likely fed on a poisoned rodent. To be certain I would bag it up (wear gloves) and take it to a vet or a government agriculture office to determine for sure what it is as all we can do here is guess.

Don't leave them on the ground or cats will get at them and likely suffer the consequences.

50 million people died in the last epidemic.

Experts agree that this strain could do the same.

It's not hysterics....it's facts...supported by the WHO, and every other agency you can think of.

Bagging up the bird is dangerous...as is being in it's vicinity unprotected.

Why do the guys disinfecting affected areas wear fukcing space suits if it's no big deal?

Jeez man, no need to get belligerant. You get wound up quite easy don't you?

[Dustoff]

50 million people died in the last epidemic.

Experts agree that this strain could do the same.

It's not hysterics....it's facts...supported by the WHO, and every other agency you can think of.

Bagging up the bird is dangerous...as is being in it's vicinity unprotected.

Why do the guys disinfecting affected areas wear fukcing space suits if it's no big deal?

I had a little bird,

Its name was Enza.

I opened the window,

And in-flu-enza.

While there is certainly another worldwide pandemic coming, I don't think that hysterical fear is the answer. The 'epidemic' you refer to was almost 100 years ago when hygiene was something far less than today's standards even in developing countries.

Not long ago it was Herpes that was going to sweep the planet, then (among other things) SARS was all the rage, then AIDS (which isn't even a disease), and now it is the Bird Flu scare..

Granted, people, quite a few of them, have died from all of these (well, not Herpes or SARS or Bird Flu) but more people die every year from the simple lack of clean drinking water than even the last, or next, pandemic can equal.

Yawn..Ho hum..

It doesn't even make front-page news (if at all) that millions of children are dying every year from simply and literally shitting themselves to death from the lack of the basic necessity of life - CLEAN WATER for Christ's sake!

By all means, don't pick up that bird - 50 million may die!

Edited August 20, 2007 by Dustoff

[Gary A]

Condos attract pigeons like a magnet. Many people feed the pigeons. That bird feed is poisoned and the pigeons that eat the poison have had their last meal. Where the birds die is of course random. Unfortunately other birds may eat the poison also.

[pumpuiman]

OK....I'll take the advice here.....screw science.

[cdnvic]

OK....I'll take the advice here.....screw science.

[elkangorito]

Current events:

The H5N1 Bird Flu strain has just crossed over into humans. That is, the disease can now spread from human to human.

And yes, the Spanish Flu in about 1918, killed between 40 to 50 million people.

Person 1: Where do you live?

Person 2: South East Asia...why?

Person 1: Don't handle birds...you could end up dying.

Person 2: Where do you live?

Person 1: Australia.

Person 2: Is it safe to handle birds there?

Person 1: At the moment, yes.