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December 23, 2007

45 Birds Found Dead in Staten Island; City Claims No Health
Risk

On Friday,
dozens of birds fell
out of the sky and died on a street in the Great Kills section of Staten
Island. Residents grew concerned as, the Staten Island Advance reported, birds
"flopped and twitched...as they breathed their last" (video
here). One resident said the birds were flying
"as if they were drunk" before falling to the ground.

Residents were advised to stay in their homes as the fire department, police
and as well as other city agencies were on the scene, trying to determine why
the birds were dying. Some residents returning home weren't even allowed out of
their cars for a while. The dead birds, either blackbirds or purple martins,
were all around Wiman Avenue and Tennyson Drive.

However scary seeing piles of dead birds on one's lawn may have been, the Health
Department said, "There is nothing to suggest that there is a risk to the
people living in the community." The Health Department thinks the mass bird
fatalities might be due to pesticide poisoning, which isn't all that reassuring
either, but whatever! Representatie Vito Fossella said residents
shouldn't worry but "The sooner we can get answers, the better to calm any
fears."

Dead bird sightings some times suggest the presence of the West Nile virus
(the city asks residents to report all dead bird
sightings) and there is talk about stopping pigeon
procreation. And the dead birds are still
being sent to a lab for autopsies (results may not be ready for weeks).

Still from video
by Patrick George for the Staten Island Advance

By Jen Chung in News |
Link | Comments
(3) | Recommend
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Comments (3)

By

[1]
| 12/23/07
01:27PM

Back in January, something similar to this happened in Texas.

By

[2]
| 12/23/07
02:12PM

Ah... how comforting that the government will lull us in to complacency no
matter what occurs. "Please nevermind the flooding, extinction of polar bears
due to drowning, or masses of birds periodically dying all at the same time.
They are all totally random occurrences that will never affect you! Also, please
disregard the annual maple syrup smell. That is all."

By

[3]
| 12/23/07
02:26PM

Maybe Councilman Felder is taking matters into his own heads. Watch your
backs wild turkeys of Staten Island.

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