Impact on Birds by West Nile Virus (1 Viewer)

I've noticed an untypically low numbers of smaller birds about in the area around my hometown of Aurora, Ontario, Canada. Does anyone have information about the impacts on various bird populations by West Nile Virus? And for that matter any impacts by the chemicals that some municipalities are using to curb the mosquitos that spread it to humans? I'm seeing crows, grackles, cow birds, gulls, waxwings .. but, next to no chickadees, sparrows, nuthatches, etc.

In my section of the world, bluejays, corvids and some red-tailed hawks were victims of west nile last year.

You can't help but believe that the spraying they do here, which by the way has proven ineffective, yet they still spray will have ramifications on the butterflies and moths as well. Sad.

Hi Agonquin Ohio suffered west nile two summers ago we had huge losses of corvid smaller losses of chickadee and titmouse.raptors including redtail hawk,bald eagle and great horned owl also suffered.aver 100 Ohioans(people) died too.We sprayed but not heavily.It passed us by last year.All of the populations except crow have recovered.I wish you a mild outbreak if you have one
Sam

Hi, Algonquin. Indiana had a horrific outbreak two years ago, same as Ohio. I've not seen the chickadees and titmouses come back like Sam has, although there has been some rebound. Crows took probably the largest hit, and although there are some around, it's nothing like the previous numbers.

Humans were very hard, too, just like Ohio -- and Indiana reported its first human case for this year just this last week.

So keep those long sleeves and long pants on!

Blue Jays, Crows, House Finches, Chickadees, titmice, hawks and owls have been hit badly in my area. A few Chickadees are back, but still very low numbers of hawks and corvids.

We have seen a dramatic decrease in tufted titmouse, chicadee, and nuthatch here in Northern Virginia. In fact we have not seen this speceis at our feeder this season.

Ron

They are all gone

I am in Sonoma county, Calif. I feed a variety of backyard birds and have robbins and other on the lawn looking for a meal. Around mid August all the birds have disappeared. It is dead quiet around here in the mornings when the birds were chirping. We have West Nile in the county and they are spraying like mad. I am afraid the local bird population is extinct in my area. The larger birds such as crows are also gone.

Hi, Chili,

On behalf of all of us on staff at BirdForum, a warm welcome to you!

I cannot even imagine waking up to no birdsong (deja vu of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring), bird chatter, drumming of woodpeckers... I am so sorry your area has been so severely impacted. Please keep us posted on when your birds return, would you?

http://westnilemaps.usgs.gov/

I've noticed here in southern Minnesota that swallows of all kinds didn't have their major meeting around our home like in years past before splitting off to find a nest site (tree and barn swallows flying all around), nuthatches and crows, downy and hairy woodpeckers are another noticed reduction (the latter could be related to new housing developments going up nearby). Redtail hawks appear on the increase (noted for the first time one eating road kill) everyone else here seems to be within normal numbers as in years past. This will be interesting, as the northern teir of the US has suffered incredible rains this spring THRU the summer, temps have remained lower than normal keeping the mosiquito from developing continually, but on those warmer days (far and few between) it is buggier than
heck!
Many people (non avian loving) just don't understand the impact of spraying. My city sprays, 3 times a summer...it rained right after each time eliminating it's expected effectivness, yet still harming the wildlife in some ways that will only become apparent later.
Shelley