[BCNnet] Chickadees "vanished" by WNV

Fri, 8 Nov 2002 12:18:07 -0600

I find both the science data and the personal experiences (like Robbie's
report, below) to be very compelling.

1) Science: The crow and chickadee studies give irrefutable evidence that
something major killed or displaced these two species. The Christmas count,
also good science, will tell us about the effects that last until then. A
lot more science is needed before we'll have solid answers to many important
questions.

2) Reported personal expeniences -- especially coming from many trained
observers -- allow us to make hypotheses and suggest some judgements.
Sometimes no science will be available in time to make needed decisions, and
we have to do the best we can with what's suggested by the anecdotal
evidence.

In my neighborhood in Northbrook and nearby Somme Woods, we lost a lot more
than the crows and chickadees. Also "vanishing" were essentially all other
birds except the mourning doves. No robins, woodpeckers, hawks, owls,
warblers, blackbirds, finches, sparrows. It was dismal and frightening.

Most of the birds seemed to be gone before the spraying started (I'm so
sorry I didn't take detailed notes) . But some "vanished" after. It would be
seriously too bad if surviving birds with resistance to the disease were
killed by pesticide, but we can only speculate about that.

Quite a few people are already trying to think through the best set of
questions to try to answer next year. I know that a group is forming which
includes Bill Moskoff, Judy Pollock and a few others, and they are eager to
hear from people with ideas about the science, the decision process, and the
studies themselves. Judy is also exploring ways that we "citizen-scientists"
can collaborate with other efforts.

Apparently we have an important opportunity to study phenomena that have
never been noticed or studied before.

----- Original Message -----
From: Robbie Hunsinger <hunsinger@telocity.com>
To: Bird Conservation Network-L <bcnnet@ece.iit.edu>
Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 9:46 AM
Subject: [BCNnet] Re: [BCNnet]: Chickadees wiped out by WNV

This is what I am aware of also. We lost many birds in Norwood Park (far NW
side) including all chickadees, all crows,  most of the house finch, some
sparrows and our resident kestral.

The spaying was well after the birds were gone.

Robbie Hunsinger

> From: Terry Schilling <tsrecord@ripco.com>
> Organization: T/S Recording
> Date: Thu, 07 Nov 2002 22:28:48 -0600
> To: BCNnet <BCNnet@ece.iit.edu>
> Subject: Re: [BCNnet] Fw: Chickadees wiped out by WNV
>
> I suspect that most birders who live on the northwest side of Chicago
> will tell you that the chickadees "disappeared" well before any spraying
> was done, by over a month. Chickadess were gone by the end of July, and
> the spraying started in September. No doubt spraying was done earlier in
> some suburban communities, but this was the first time in 25 years that
> ANY insecticide spraying was done on a large scale within the city
> limits, and it came after there were a number of human fatalities caused
> by WNV.
>
> So I don't see how chickadee disapperance can be blamed on insecticide
> spraying, at least not it the city.
>
> Terry Schilling
> Chicago
>
> Karolyn Beebe wrote:
>> Dear BCNneters,
>>
>> Maybe someone knows if the areas where Chickadee numbers are low were
>> sprayed with pesticides, maybe to fight WNV?  I posted the article on
>> the Wisbird list and it brought the following 2 replies.
>> Karolyn Beebe
>> Madison WI
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> *To:* Wisbird <mailto:wisbirdn@lawrence.edu>
>> *Sent:* Thursday, November 07, 2002 3:51 PM
>> *Subject:* re: Chickadees wiped out by WNV
>>
>> Daryl makes a very good point, that we MUST NOT jump to conclusions
>> about what is killing off any species.  Testing to show it is WNV (or
>> whatever) should be done.  And his other point that pesticide spraying
>> is worse than the disease and does more harm is right on the money as
well.
>>
>> I'm not saying chickadees are not being killed by WNV, but we do NOT
>> know for sure at this stage.
>>
>> Bettie Harriman
>> in her woods north of Oshkosh where "my" chickadee numbers are about the
>> same as ever and I sure hope to keep them that way!
>>
>> At 03:21 PM 11/7/02 -0600, Daryl Christensen wrote:
>>
>>> Hi All:
>>> I would suspect that the intensive spraying of insecticides in those
>>> counties killed most of the birds rather than WNV. This article
>>> concerns me because the simple absence of a species doesn't mean they
>>> were "wiped out" by WNV. Without the collecting of carcasses and
>>> testing them for a cause of death, it is pure speculation that WNV was
>>> the culprit. Wholesale spraying kills all the insects in the area,
>>> wiping out a major food source for local birds. These birds will move
>>> out of the area unless of course, they are killed by eating the
>>> poisoned insects. If they don't eat them, but feed them to their
>>> young, the young will die, thus accounting for a big drop in local
>>> bird numbers.
>>> It seems awfully suspicious to me that this big absence of chickadees
>>> is only occuring in these heavily sprayed areas.
>>> West Nile Virus has been documented in humans and birds all across
>>> southern Wisconsin, yet there doesn't seem to be a drop in chickadee
>>> numbers here. In fact, I have never seen so many chickadees while
>>> birding all across the state this late summer and fall.
>>> I would hate to see municipalities use the threat of a "chickadee
>>> wipe-out" for an excuse to do more spraying next spring with the
>>> blessing of conservation groups over fears of WNV killing the birds.
>>> -Daryl Christensen
>>> Marquette co., WI
>>>
>>> Karolyn Beebe wrote:
>>> Birdwatching for science, Chicagoans found huge holes in Chickadee
>>> populations. The Tribune
>>> article is below and the press release is in the BCNnet archives,
>>> thanks to Judy Pollock:
>>> http://www.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/2002-October/000278.html
>>>
>>> Virus claims another species
>>> West Nile takes toll on chickadees
>>>
>>> By William Mullen
>>> Tribune staff reporter
>>> Published October 30, 2002
>>> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/
>>>
>>> Black-capped chickadees, popular back-yard residents with a sweetly
>>> familiar "chickadee-dee-dee" call, have been exterminated in huge
>>> swaths around Chicago by West Nile virus, according to a report
>>> released Tuesday by the Audubon Society.
>>
>
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