Older Daughter was working in the kitchen the other day when she glanced out the window just in time to see a bird fall off a tree trunk into the snow.
At first she was inclined to think it was funny – clumsy bird! – but it soon became apparent the bird was stuck in the snow. I donned boots and waded out to free it.
The bird was a red-shafted flicker, and it was indeed stuck in the snow. Or ... something.
Did it have a broken leg? A broken wing? Whatever the issue, it was serious.
I gently picked it up. Within moments, it dropped unconscious.
I brought it onto the porch and laid it on a dishcloth just to keep it off the freezing-cold surface. It died a few minutes later.
It had no apparent injury, so my speculation is it died of starvation. This is the harsh reality of life in winter for many birds, and one of the reasons I like to keep our bird feeder full during the colder months.
Poor little flicker.
Birds seem to die pretty fast. Maybe they do their best to hide it until it's too late. But I've been thru this several times with chickens. Not the same thing, but fast death. I'm really close to them and observant. But sometimes about the time you notice something off and bring them in for a checkup, they take off to the next life.
ReplyDeleteI make a point to start my critters off "hands on", and maintain a petting relationship. A big part of that is because I want them to be comfortable with my hands examining them when something's wrong. It sure makes things easier to treat when something is wrong if the animal trusts you and is comfortable letting you check them. Plus sometimes you discover something wrong before you see it. Water belly is a good example.
Sorry the bird died. The Lord knows every sparrow who falls. There are a good many scriptures like this that to me, point to an afterlife for animals too.
It may have been lack of food. But it also may be the cold. I seriously doubt they live very many winters. The cold, wind, and wet conditions are brutal to small bodies.
Bird Flu?
ReplyDeleteI think this "bird flu" we're dealing with came about the same time as co-vid. And if most people knew the stringent practices commercial poultry producers employ to make sure our food supply is safe, they would question how creatures in lockdown ever got any "bug". Workers pretty much get dresed up in hazmat suits with booties to tend those flocks.
DeleteAnd it seems birds get infected near big poultry farms then all chickens anywhere around get destroyed. Including the large operations.
So here's my conspiracy theory. I think it's part of a gueriila warfare tactic to destroy our food supply. Fear tactics.
Can't wait for the new admin to figure it out and kick some butt.
Not saying bird flu isn't real. But I think the whole picture is nefarious.
So now there's a push for chickens to be vaccinated. Big pharma needs to be handcuffed. They are part of the problem, or, the motivating factor behind bird flu, covid, and so forth.
It's not likely to be bird flu up in northern Idaho.
How sad that the beautiful little bird died. As soon as it gets cold here, we feed the birds. Sometimes twice a day if the weather is very brutal. Every morning, they wait for my husband to fill the feeder. We even had a bunch of wild turkeys pass through. They fed for two weeks and then we didn't see them anymore. Our bird feeder is squirrel proof BUT the squirrels congregate on the ground, under the feeder because they know good things will fall.
ReplyDeleteI'd second that it could be bird flu. I live in southern Idaho and we have had numerous birds just drop dead from suspected bird flu, they won't test for it, just say to not handle dead birds without gloves on. We've found hawks, great horned owls, starlings, flickers and numerous other dead birds over the past year. Bird feeders can spread bird flu as well, as it's very contagious. It can spread to cats and dogs as well, just being exposed to bird droppings, even tracked in on shoes can infect cats especially and it seems to kill around 50-75% of cats that are exposed to it. I know many people say it's another fake pandemic and all hype, but in my area numerous dairies have lost over 50% of their barn cats to it, and I myself lost about half of my own barn cats to it last year, and it kills them pretty fast within 24 hours usually, they either tend to catch it and die (we only had 1 manage to survive it), or they tend to be immune to it. Our neighbor lost numerous cats as well and he also lost 2 dogs to it, so it's not a joke. That being said, winter in general does cause a higher kill off rate in all wildlife, so it may have just dropped dead due to natural causes.
ReplyDeleteIn SW Idaho...Yes, we had a snow goose leave the flying flock, circle around our property, slowing losing altitude and plop on the ground. We put it in a box in a heated out building but it died. Then I read about the burd flu outbreak at Lake Lowell. Glad it didn't come in contact with our chickens.
DeleteThat one photo you took, the 6th from top, is a blue ribbon winner. You should print it 8x10 and share it with an audience. The beauty shown in its last minutes is astounding.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking Bird Flu as well. Affected birds lose control of their bodies, usually seizing and dying quickly. This horrible disease is not limited to chickens but has affected wildlife as well.
ReplyDeleteA lot of folks here are thinking bird flu. Google "Dr. Eric Berg and bird flu". He does an interview with a physician who explains in great detail what I already think.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion has been formed from a lot of reading. Dr. Berg's video just came out about an hour ago.
Robert Kennedy on his website for MAHA took nominations for and votes for people to bring in if he won the nomination for HHS Secretary. Dr. Berg walked way far away in votes from all the other nominees. Nobody came close to the support he got. I don't know if he's officially doing anything with Kennedy yet, but I hope so. This interview was good.
I toss chicken scratch under some bushes here. Cheap bird seed. Attracts all kinds of birds. Some are edible. All of them if you're hungry enough. I don't trap or kill any of them, it's just a thought that stays in the back of my mind. Enjoyable to watch them.
ReplyDeleteGoogle "Dr. Eric Berg and egg prices...it's not what you think". It's an interview with a knowledgeable physician about bird flu.
ReplyDeleteBird flu is all over. There is an eagle cam here that watched eaglets hatch. They died not long afterwards. One fell from the nest. It was autopsied. Bird flu. Several weeks ago, I was concerned that the small birds were missing. I plant cover and feed plots for them. There is sorghum, winter wheat, native plants and their seeds. There are wild brambles for cover, as well as vines and shrubberies. When the eaglets expired, I feared that the large squabbling numbers of robins, cardinals and finches are likely gone. Perhaps they have moved further south due to the cold, but I fear not. I hope with all my heart that the birds will suddenly arrive en masse and eat all the seeds, gaining strength for their migration north.
ReplyDeleteIt's true, it's everywhere. It is causing huge kill offs in numerous species of migratory waterfowl and birds in numerous parts of the world, it even is infecting and killing off colonies of birds in Antarctica, the Arctic and on many islands. It literally could cause some species to go extinct or to drop down to dangerously low population levels, I speak this as a former wildlife biologist who still is friends with many wildlife biologists around the world. And no they aren't lying and making that up like some people believe, it's happening. It has been around for years, just mutating over time and has turned much deadlier in certain bird populations and is affecting some mammal populations as well. Is it blown out of proportion in the media, is it a way to push another vaccine? Perhaps, but it is really causing a huge ecological crisis for birds. And no currently it isn't a huge threat to healthy humans. Similar to how the plague and flu wiped out tons of people in past times, these things can occur naturally, it's what caused many mass extinctions in the past, sad but nature isn't a friendly place. I live on a migratory bird flyway, and the number of migratory waterfowl, especially geese and ducks have dropped dramatically this winter, the flocks are much smaller and only about 1 or 2 a day, compared to huge flocks all day long. We normally have starling flocks in the tens of thousands and they are only about 1/4 the size of normal, which if you deal with yearly starling flocks, you would understand how odd that is. I keep a lot of native vegetation around that has seeds on it for migrating small birds and overwintering birds, and there have been hardly any birds around at all this year, and we constantly find small dead birds everywhere. It's actually tragic to see this happening, as birds are such an important part of the ecosystem. Unfortunately I don't think you will see the flocks of birds showing up, but it appears that the surviving birds are immune to the current strain of avian flu, so there is hope that in a few years the populations may rebound.
DeleteRemember that until recently, this happened with people every winter. We can be glad to live in a society where it is now unusual for people to die or cold and starvation in winter.
ReplyDeleteJonathan
It's not just bird flu. Cats have been getting sick from eating infected birds. God only knows what other creatures are eating them in the wild.
ReplyDeleteWhat devastation to our wildlife!
I've been noticing there aren't many birds around here anymore.