Leave it to Woodstock to turn work into fun.
T-Rex would have probably eaten everything in. this comic strip. Now on to the Anvian influenza.
This year many birdwatchers were encouraged to take down their bird feeders due to a hight contagious strain of avian influenza. I know that we followed the recommendation to do so. We even helped take down the feeders at the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory and disinfect the.
So, what are the numbers involved with this epidemic?
Here are the verified monthly deaths, for all species as of the end of July –
January. 81
February. 225
March. 360
April. 444
May. 505
June. 240
July. 173
So those are the over all numbers. But what about individual species?
Here are the most commonly killed species-
You can see that the list is dominated by waterfowl and raptors. There were probably less than 50 total “small land birds” with very few feeder birds. None of the species that come to our feeders at Whitefish Point or Ann Arbor were among those, with the exception of one grackle.
More tomorrow…
Michael's Place 