how do i know if birds by my house are being poisoned?

Question

i keep finding dead birds around my house, 7 in the past 3 days.
My neighbor is obsessed with feeding the birds, so i'm wondering if one of the neighbors around are poisoning them. I found one today that was laying on is side and twiching around.

there are ALOT of birds around here, could they be fighting and killing each other, if there is too many.

i have dogs and i'm worried they might get sick, like these birds.

i called the city and they told me they are not doing tests for west nile, but we do have alot of mesquitoes in the area

we have a great mix of birds, but its mostly the sparrows that died, i found a few robins in the begining of summer

Answer 1

There are plenty of other causes for high mortality in birds than disease, so if your neighbor doesn't live near a large stagnant body of water, you would likely find dead birds all over the block with such a widespread case of West Nile, or at least along the perimeter of the entire body of water.

If the birds share a feeder or waterer, it may also be possible that they're spreading trichomoniasis or salmonellosis to eachother by contaminating the water or food with fecal matter. If you noticed any growths on the bird, focus on avian pox. Sources of rotting vegetable matter, from even an open trash can or an untended garden, may be contaminated with fungus, which birds are extremely sensitive to.

A probable cause of localized wild bird mortality is toxicity, from lawn treatment chemicals, insecticides, gas leaks, etc. If this is the cause of the high mortality rate, it's definitely a threat to outside pets. Fungi and conjunctivitis (if they have runny, scabby eyes) can strike domestic pets, too.

Unless they have close contact with the birds or their sources of infection, the other diseases discussed probably won't cause them any harm, but if you can't be sure, just keep them indoors. Where there is one disease, for one reason, there is bound to be another. To clarify, conjunctivitis is an eye problem, but many birds die from scratch-related sub-infections or starvation; this is more common in finches

Answer 2

You haven't explained why there is spraying be done. Is it your desire to spray or a neighbors? How bad is the bug problem? What kind of bugs are we talking about? There are other ways to rid an area of bugs.I mean c'mon why risk all your bird's lives? If you can't move them-DON'T let the exterminator spray. Also perhaps you could have the spraying postponed until you can prepare a plan to safeguard your birds. Whatever you do-DON'T believe for one minute that the toxic chemicals won't have a devastating effect on your pets. If you do move the birds and the area is sprayed you'll will have to clean your aviary thouroughly of the chemicals before you can put the birds back in. Good LUck!!

Answer 3

Well i dont think anyone would hurt a bird because birds are the reason the world is pretty. I think it has something too deal with the air, because there was a truck that blew up near me and chemicals were all over the air and it killed alot of birds but it did'nt hurt the people. So maybe it can be the chemicals in the air OR the environment. Thats all i really kow and if its really bad i would call someone that knows about these kinds of things

Answer 4

Find that the sick birds are all of the finch family - bull,chaffinch, green are the ones I have seen obviously ill. If I closer my bird feeders they will surely just go on to a neighbour's. I give clean water 4 or 5 times a day and clean out birdbath regularly but is this enough?

Answer 5

It is likely they are dying from West Nile virus. You should contact Vector control and they will come get the birds and test them. You can call them for the results so you know what is really going on.

Answer 6

I don't know where you live, but sometimes here birds die of West Nile Virus. You might want to check out this link and also be careful of handling any dead birds.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/qa/wnv_birds.htm

Answer 7

it may be important on the species of birds you are finding. for west Nile concern, if they are in the Corvid family you'll want to contact your local health department.
you may want to contact them anyway.

however, they may refere you to animal control to make a report, or wildlife.

i doubt their own species would be killing each other unless it's another bird preying on another bird (hawk v. sparrow).

good luck

Answer 8

Check your windows from the outside for evidence of birdstrikes. If that could be the cause, place appliques on the inside of the windows. That way they can see that there is something there and avoid it.

Answer 9

Maybe disease?