Last week about 300 birds were found dead on the side of the road in
Athens. Now another massive bird kill in the
Tennessee Valley has the State Agriculture Department investigating, this time in
Jackson County.
“This situation is like
Limestone County where you have thousands of them nesting in one spot, and then near the area where they were nesting and you have a big kill,” said Winfred Cotten of the Jackson County Health Department.
Jackson County EMA responded to incident with the help of the Jackson County Health Department. Neighbors were responsible for cleaning up the birds that landed on their properties. 15 birds were collected to be sent Montgomery for testing.
“It's not a Public Health issue at this time, the lab testing is being done by the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab which is under the State Department of Agriculture. We're right now just helping by transporting the birds,” said Thomas Jensen, Area Environmental Director, State Dept. of Public Health.
And in the meantime neighbors are concerned.
“It is very bizarre an a little concerning, I would like to know what the cause of that is,” said Leslie Cooper.
As birds are sent via courier to the lab, many theories about what happened flutter through the air. Frank Boyd is the USDA Wildlife Services State Director, he spoke with the Jackson County Health Department after the birds hit the ground.
“I spoke with Frank Boyd this morning, and he explained to me that in his 30 year career he has received many calls about dead birds. It’s not something new, it’s a naturally occurring thing from time to time. If the birds get stressed, say due to the cold weather, it puts them in a state and they die in number,” said Cotten.
The results are expected back from Montgomery within the next few weeks.
To report any large bird die-offs in your area and to arrange transportation of the dead birds to a diagnostic laboratory for testing, please contact any of the following agencies:
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Wildlife Section
334-242-3469
USDA Alabama Wildlife Services
334-844-5670 or Toll-Free 1-866-4USDAWS
Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries State Veterinarian’s Office
334-240-7253
The agencies listed above will also handle any questions from the press on this issue.
Please note that this is NOT considered a public health threat at this time.
