As if the wildfires, earthquakes and pandemic aren’t enough, now California’s songbirds are dying.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reports it’s been “inundated with calls from residents who are finding sick or dead finches at bird feeders.” Most of the dead birds are from the Bay Area, Central Coast, and Sierra Nevada, according to the department.
Songbirds are dying across Northern and Central California, and a common backyard feature is facilitating their fate https://t.co/3Wem6hkQuR
— KTLA (@KTLA) March 11, 2021
It turns out the birds have been dying of Salmonellosis, which they’re catching at the feeders people set out for them. “Salmonellosis is almost exclusively reported from locations with bird feeders where birds congregate,” reads a release from the CDFW. Healthy birds are contracting the disease through water, food, and feces that have been contaminated by sick birds, the agency reports. Officials are now urging California to take down its bird feeders.
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