US: Dead Crows..Early West Nile or B.F.?

Dead crows cause concern for the county


The Enquirer

Several Battle Creek residents have raised concern over about 10 dead
crows found in the parking lot of the Columbia Plaza Shopping Center on
20th Street in front of the Big Lots store Sunday evening.

Mary Dressel of Battle Creek said she was driving on 20th Street with her
husband when she noticed the crows.

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"With the West Nile virus found in crows, we couldn't help but wonder if
these crows were sick, or if anyone checked into it," Dressel said.

Calhoun County epidemiologist Amy Latham doubted the crows died of
West Nile. But she said once information was received about the crows, it
was forwarded onto the environmental health division.

Ted Havens, director of environmental health at the county health
department, said the West Nile virus program coordinator was unable to
collect the bird specimens before the parking lot maintenance staff at
Columbia Plaza disposed of the birds Monday.

Havens said the West Nile virus typically is transmitted by mosquitoes
during the spring and summer months. He also said crows and blue jays
have been infected by the virus more than other bird species.

He said the environmental health division will keep an eye out for other
cases like this.

Kim Signs, a disease epidemiologist with the Michigan Department of
Community Health, said only one dead bird case was reported by the
county health department last year.

The specimen was not tested at state health department facilities, she
said, so the results were unknown.

Anthony Martinez Beven covers health and features. He can be reached at
966-0684 or abeven@battlecr.gannett.com.


Originally published March 7, 2006



http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID =/
20060307/NEWS01/603070306/1002

http://
www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_3517898

Crows are a highly social being, and live in family units. So maybe they are talking about something?

Our Crows here so far seem normal.

But it sure sounds like the Birds of Hitchcocks movie.

No shooting off of migratory birds in Russia to ward off avian flu

MOSCOW, March 7 (Itar-Tass) - There will be no shooting of migratory
birds in Russia as a measure to ward off avian flu, the general director of
the Center for Wildlife Protection said at a news conference on Tuesday
referring to instructions by the Rospotrebnadzor consumer rights
watchdog.

“If we shoot off birds, we shall trigger an unpredictable scenario of the
epidemic with our own hands,” Alexei Zimenko said. “Birds will start
looking for quieter areas, while dead or wounded birds
will be a pray of predators and crows,” he added. This will only
contribute to the spread of the epidemic, the specialist emphasized.
Besides, the shooting operation would be very costly, he said.

The president of the Russian Union for Bird Protection, Viktor Zubakin,
told the news conference that “ornithologists advise not to open a wild
fowl hunting season this year”. “One can contract the virus when
disjointing fowl,” he stressed.

According to the Ministry for Emergency Situations, about 1.5 million
domestic birds have already died of bird flu in Russia. Alone 752,000 of
them have died in February and early in March. A mass arrival of
migratory birds is expected later.

These days, Russians are buying half as much poultry meat as earlier. A
mass vaccination of chickens, ducks and geese will begin in Russia on
March 10.

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?
NewsID=4125468&PageNum=0

Crows

I remember reading about a woman who studied crows for years and during all that time, she only noticed one divorce.  Even though that crow couple split up, they still remained social. 

They may be a nuisance, but they really are remarkable birds.  I'm thinking that I'll have to start checking the property each morning so if there are any dead birds, I can dispose of them before our dog picks them up and carries them around like a trophy.  Those of us with dogs should probably be on high alert for dead birds around us, if only to protect our pets.

The concern with crows and their cousins the Magpipe, is that they are
carrion that feed on other dead birds and animals.

The theory is that these crows, and the dead crows in Japan, Kenya, Hong
Kong, etc, etc, could have died by eating infected dead birds and not by
posioning. The crows act as an early warning sign.

My best friend just called me yesterday about the story in Battle Creek.  She lives across the street from the store.  She never believed me about the bird flu which I have been trying to tell her about for the last year.  She tried to call to have the birds tested and the city officals would do nothing. I again told her of my concerns.  Her last statement was that the goverment is trying to do something about the bird flu. Sometimes I just don't know.

10 dead Crows. I have never seen 2 dead Crows together. They did not hit the windows. ( to far from the windows to of hit them ) Crows have exceptional eye sight....

depends on the poison, the rat poison we used takes a week and even then they're not that close to each other like that