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