Sparrows dying (1 Viewer)

[Jkt978]

I just stumbled across this website looking for answers on google. I apologize in advance if this isn’t a forum that can help me.
I have had 12 sparrows die within the last 3 weeks. I’ve been feeding song birds for over 20 years and have never seen anything like this. This has been devastating for me and I’ve been diligently searching for answers.
There’s a few things that I’ve thought of while wracking my brain trying to think of everything, but, I don’t have any knowledge to verify them. That’s where you would come in and hopefully help.

I live in an apartment complex. The new owner cares more about money than anything else. He’s band bird feeders. So, I “ sneak” cardboard boxes on my porch. I dump the seeds out every evening and put in new seeds. I’ve been doing it for three years. No issues. Is that bad? Would that all of a sudden cause death?

Again, the new owners also hate the 13 lined ground squirrels ( chipmunk, gopher) so, last summer ( July) the maintenance put out poison to kill them all. I don’t know what they used, but, unfortunately it worked. 6 months later, can it still be on the ground and the birds are all of a sudden eating it? None died during July when they put down the poison. Again, the birds started dying three weeks ago.

My last thought, A few months ago I noticed what I “ think” is a shrew. I keep the bucket of birdseed on the porch. Can he crawl in there and maybe leave urine and now that’s what’s killing the birds? I can’t kill anything, so, I do leave a separate container of black sunflower seeds for the shrew. I place the container right by where I see him pop out. I just thought about this being an issue so, from now on I won’t leave the bucket of seeds on my porch.

So far it’s been all sparrows that have died. I do get mourning doves but, haven’t seen any die. But, to think about it, I haven’t seen them for awhile. A few weeks. I used to get 4-7 at a time.
At night the birds that die will still be on my porch, which is very odd. They don’t get scared of me. Kind of hover to the wall. The next day they’re dead. I’m not noticing any other issues with them.

I don’t understand why this is just all of a sudden happening. What can I do?
I live in Sauk county, south central, Wisconsin.

 

[maplekong]

Hi, this must be really sad for you. We found a baby house sparrow once, and it was in the middle of a heatwave. It hung around our house for a whole day, and neither of its parents were around. It was failing to fly, so we took it in, put it in a box, gave it water and mealworms soaked in water, and next day we released it in the garden. We did have a bird bath which we filled pretty often, so I don't think it died of dehydration, but the next day we found it dead on the lawn. I still have no idea why.

Are there no symptoms at all? Do they look lethargic, have missing feathers, growths or anything?

The new owners sound horrible, if you don't mind me saying.

Sudden deaths might be bird flu, but sadly there isn't much you can do about it. Maybe stop feeding for a while, but it doesn't sound like feeding is causing the problems. Do you keep the boxes clean? If so, I can't really help but will post anyway to put this further up in the newest post section. Hopefully others will see.

Maple

 

[kids]

According to our Royal Society for the protection of birds the symptoms of avian flu are
Swollen head,closed and excessively watery eyes,unresponsiveness,Lack of coordination and loss of balance, tremors,Drooping wings and/or dragging legs,Twisting head and neck,Haemorrhages (bleeding) on shanks of the legs and under the skin of the neck,Respiratory distress such as sneezing or gurgling,Discoloured or loose, watery droppings.
However , over in the UK , the AF is much more problematic amongst water birds and coastal nesters , not garden birds like sparrows. TBH , I would be more inclined to investigate poisoning , I guess as an invasive species sparrows have little protection ?
Rob

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

Some questions: You are in the US, so the sparrows may not be House sparrows but some kind of American sparrows? if yes, it may be important to know which ones ?
From your short description, I also do not fully understand the way you provide the birds with the seeds. You speak about cardboard boxes where you put the seeds in . if the birds land in the boxes to feed they may be pooping into the seeds also. Also if you feed them on the ground always in the same area... An infected bird could easily spread disease that way.
In Europe, as far as I know there would be at least the following diseases that could be transmitted that way as far as I know (aside from Bird Flu): Trichomonas gallinae killing off greenfinches, the Usutu virus killing off European Blackbirds (which are a thrush like your American Robin, not an Icterid like your blackbirds), Suttonella bacteria killing off blue tits. If not bird flue , you may have something more specific...
In Any case , stopping feeding for a longer time period and cleaning the feeding places really well might be a solution...
Shrew urine itself will not harm the birds (I am no vet , but a biologist , however I also don´t know a disease that is transmitted from shrews to birds)--But shrews don´t eat seeds- so I am not sure what you have there, some kind of rodent seems more likely?

 

[Jkt978]

Some questions: You are in the US, so the sparrows may not be House sparrows but some kind of American sparrows? if yes, it may be important to know which ones ?
From your short description, I also do not fully understand the way you provide the birds with the seeds. You speak about cardboard boxes where you put the seeds in . if the birds land in the boxes to feed they may be pooping into the seeds also. Also if you feed them on the ground always in the same area... An infected bird could easily spread disease that way.
In Europe, as far as I know there would be at least the following diseases that could be transmitted that way as far as I know (aside from Bird Flu): Trichomonas gallinae killing off greenfinches, the Usutu virus killing off European Blackbirds (which are a thrush like your American Robin, not an Icterid like your blackbirds), Suttonella bacteria killing off blue tits. If not bird flue , you may have something more specific...
In Any case , stopping feeding for a longer time period and cleaning the feeding places really well might be a solution...
Shrew urine itself will not harm the birds (I am no vet , but a biologist , however I also don´t know a disease that is transmitted from shrews to birds)--But shrews don´t eat seeds- so I am not sure what you have there, some kind of rodent seems more likely?

I appreciate your response immensely. I made new cardboard boxes, put a new bag of birdseed, got rid of everything on my porch. I take a box, cut the top off and put seeds in it. This is the best picture I have of it. The little 13 lined ground squirrel is in it. I put duct tape inside or else birdseed gets stuck. I haven’t noticed any different sparrows. It’s the same kind I’ve been seeing for years. It’s still happening. I found one in the box today. I threw the box out. I’ll stop feeding them for awhile. But,it’s devastating for me. Here’s also a picture of the shrew.

 

[Jkt978]

According to our Royal Society for the protection of birds the symptoms of avian flu are
Swollen head,closed and excessively watery eyes,unresponsiveness,Lack of coordination and loss of balance, tremors,Drooping wings and/or dragging legs,Twisting head and neck,Haemorrhages (bleeding) on shanks of the legs and under the skin of the neck,Respiratory distress such as sneezing or gurgling,Discoloured or loose, watery droppings.
However , over in the UK , the AF is much more problematic amongst water birds and coastal nesters , not garden birds like sparrows. TBH , I would be more inclined to investigate poisoning , I guess as an invasive species sparrows have little protection ?
Rob

That sounds just awful for the poor birds. I’m not noticing things like that. I do see a bird won’t be afraid of me. Then the next day that bird is dead. They look normal though. I don’t know what, why, how or who would poison them. What would be used to do that? Should I watch out for something specific ? Thank you so much for your response.

 

[Jkt978]

Hi, this must be really sad for you. We found a baby house sparrow once, and it was in the middle of a heatwave. It hung around our house for a whole day, and neither of its parents were around. It was failing to fly, so we took it in, put it in a box, gave it water and mealworms soaked in water, and next day we released it in the garden. We did have a bird bath which we filled pretty often, so I don't think it died of dehydration, but the next day we found it dead on the lawn. I still have no idea why.

Are there no symptoms at all? Do they look lethargic, have missing feathers, growths or anything?

The new owners sound horrible, if you don't mind me saying.

Sudden deaths might be bird flu, but sadly there isn't much you can do about it. Maybe stop feeding for a while, but it doesn't sound like feeding is causing the problems. Do you keep the boxes clean? If so, I can't really help but will post anyway to put this further up in the newest post section. Hopefully others will see.

Maple

I appreciate your words and caring. Thank you so much. I truly hope I figure this out, too.

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

To me that looks like some kind of vole, not like a shrew ...
Voles are rodents... but if there are some species in your area that could transmit diseases to birds , i do not know.

The way your feeding tray looks it is a problem for any disease transmitted by faeces/bird poo. In our region these hav been fatal especially for the greenfinches , together with the bird baths...
Here we use feeders like this:

https://www.nabu-shop.de/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/93ce9413ab488b2146abfe2f5c322688/3/3/33022_2_.jpg

some seeds are falling to the ground below them , and also bird poo, but still it is much more hygienic.
However if you are not in the position to use something like that, I do not know what else you could do.

With a fast acting "killer" it is perhaps also more likely to be something more contagious, like bird flu... or really something poisonous, which needn´t be taken in at your feeding place ...
Anyway, stopping feeding for some time (as you did already) is the best solution I could offer ...