Newspaper Page Text
Page 6C
January 26, 2022
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
Reporter
Clues emerge to cause of songbird deaths
O ne of the things
that bothers me
most about the
way the national
media covers news stories
is often as soon as
interest in a story
wanes, it is forgot
ten and we never
learn how the
event eventually
turns out.
A good example
of this occurred
last summer.
The national
television media
reported that
birds were dying in large
number is sections of the
eastern United States. At
the time the story broke
wildlife disease experts
were at a loss to explain
what was causing these
deaths. In the months that
have passed since the story
dropped out of sight, we
have been left wondering
if the cause of the deaths
is continuing, has the ill
ness spread, or if has been
identified.
Shortly after I heard the
disturbing news concern
ing the outbreak I shared
the information with
each of you in a Monroe
Outdoors column. Since
that time, like you, I have
been anxiously waiting for
an update. Just recently I
learned that the wave of
deaths abruptly ended and
wildlife disease experts
think they know what
caused the problem.
As far as I know, these
developments were not
widely reported. Let me
share with you what I have
learned.
Last May a mysterious ill
ness that affected a number
of species of
songbirds sud
denly appeared
in the eastern
states. By the
time the illness
finally abated,
it had killed
thousands birds
in the District
of Columbia,
Delaware,
New Jersey,
Virginia, Pennsylvania,
Kentucky and West Virgin
ia. Since many of the birds
suffering from the disease
were discovered close to
bird feeders, state wildlife
agencies and conservation
groups in the states affected
by the event urged the pub
lic to cease providing wild
birds with water or food.
The birds affected by the
outbreak displayed the
same symptoms: swollen,
crusty eyes, paralysis, and
tremors.
The birds that were most
affected were young com
mon grackles, blue jays
and European starlings.
However, the roster of birds
that displayed symptoms
of the illness also included
Carolina wrens and chicka
dees, red-bellied wood
peckers, eastern bluebirds,
American robins, house
finches, northern cardinals,
and house sparrows. All
of these birds are perma
nent residents in Monroe
TERRY W. JOHNSON
County.
While wildlife disease
experts scurried about
trying to determine what
was going on, this past July
the numbers of reports of
sick and dying birds took a
nosedive and then ceased.
The outbreak prompted
the Cornell Wildlife
Health Laboratory and the
National Wildlife Health
Lab, as well as a number of
other wildlife disease labs
across the country, to make
determining the cause of
this problem a top priority.
They methodically ruled
out all of the known wild
life illnesses. This left them
scratching their heads
wondering what was caus
ing the deaths of so many
different species of birds.
Eventually scientists
correlated the sudden
appearance and decline of
the disease with the Brood
X cicada emergence. The
more they looked into the
matter, it became increas
ingly apparent this was no
mere coincidence.
EEzabeth Bunting, Senior
Extension Associate at
the Cornell Wildlife Lab,
expressed the revelation
this way, “The distribution
of states where this sponta
neously popped up was an
exact match for the cicada
emergence map, and it is
a very strange distribution
of states for this kind of
outbreak.”
Because of this revela
tion, many wildlife disease
experts are now tentatively
theorizing that the mysteri
ous bird
illness
that
plagued
birds
across
avast
swath of
the east
this past
summer
is linked
to cica
das. Ac
cording
to this
theory,
birds
may have
been af
fected by
the cica
das in a
Birds most affected by the mysterious illness were common grackles, blue jays
and European strarlings, but many other backyard birds were victims, like this
male house finch. (Photo/Terry Johnson)
number
of ways.
For
example,
they
could
have eaten cicadas poi
soned by homeowners
trying to eliminate the
insects from their yards.
Some birds may have also
become sick from eating
the cicadas themselves.
It is also possible that a
toxin produced by a fungus
commonly found on the ci
cadas could have poisoned
the birds.
While this theory seems
plausible, more research
is needed before wildlife
disease experts will defini
tively say this was indeed
the cause of the problem.
In response to my origi
nal column concerning this
unfortunate event, some
of you asked whether you
should continue feeding
birds. At that time, since
no outbreaks of dead and
dying birds had been re
ported in Georgia or other
areas of the country where
folks were feeding birds, I
recommended that it was
all right continue feeding
birds in your yard. Now
that feeding birds has been
ruled out as a cause of the
problem, you can breathe
a sigh of relief. However,
we should not let our guard
down. We all should
continue to strive to keep
our bird feeders and the
ground around them clean.
This will ensure that those
diseases that do infect birds
in our backyards will not
flourish there.
If any updates regarding
this mysterious songbird
illness surface, I will let you
know.
Terry Johnson is retired
Program Manager of the
Georgia Nongame-Endan
gered Wildlife Program. He
has written the informative
column Monroe Outdoors’
for the Reporter for many
years. His book, “A Journey
to Discovery,” is available at
The Reporter. Email him at
tjwoodduck@bellsouth. net.
Hajar Baldwin-Toles makes the layup for the Lady Dogs. (Photo/Will Davis)
Lady Dogs aim to
rebound after losses
to Crisp Co., Central
By Will Davis
publisher® my mcr.net
The Mary Persons girls basketball
team fell to 10-10, 3-7 in region last
week with losses to Central and Crisp
County.
The girls lost at Crisp County 58-54
on Thursday, Jan. 20. The Lady Dogs
started well, leading 20-11 after the first
quarter, but bombed in the third quar
ter, when the Lady Cougars outscored
them 23-14 and took a two point lead
going into the fourth.
Miah Barkley led the Dogs with 20
points but had a rough night at the free
throw line, making 6 of 20 attempts. She
had 5 rebounds. Anaja Lucear added 13
points and 8 rebounds in the loss.
Two days earlier, MP lost 52-47 to
Central-Macon at home.
Miah Barkley led again with 23 points
and was much better from the free
throw line, going 11 of 13. Samiya Mor
ris added 8 points, going 2 of 4 on three
pointers.
Barkley and Anaja Lucear both led
with 6 rebounds
Now in sixth place in an 8-team
region, MP hosted Pike County on
Tuesday. Results were not available at
press time.
The Lady Dogs will play a make up
game at Howard on Wednesday, at
Upson on Friday and at Jackson next
Tuesday, Feb. 1.
MP Dogs honored
on All-State teams
More Mary Persons
football players have been
honored for their 2021
seasons.
The Atlanta Journal
Constitution named
senior offensive line
man Austin Starr and
sophomore running
back Duke Watson to
its All-State as Honor
able Mentions.
Meanwhile, the popu
lar football recruiting
website Recruit Geor
gia named Watson and
senior offensive line
man Jarvis Germany to
its First Team.
Recruit Georgia also
named Austin Starr, ju
nior quarterback Logan
Hickman and senior
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