Pelicans Mysteriously Falling from Sky on West Coast

by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada on 01. 8.09
Travel & Nature

Pelican Bird photo

"Hundreds of birds, disoriented or dead"
Something strange is happening on the West coast of the US. Hundreds of pelicans have been falling from the sky, some crashing into cars and boats, other are found many miles inland. "Rescuers are wondering whether the illness is caused by a virus, or even by contaminants washed into the ocean after recent fires across Southern California. Many of the birds also have swollen feet."

Read on for more details.

Brown Pelican photo

Mysterious Malady?
Bird-rescue workers say that dead or disoriented pelicans have been found from southern Oregon to Baja California, Mexico.

From the Seattle Times:

"These birds are on the freeway, getting run over," said Jay Holcomb, executive director of the rescue center in San Pedro. "A bunch we've seen have been hit. They've been landing on yards five miles inland. When some of the people have captured them in parking lots, they just sit in the corner. They just go pick them up."

"Maybe the weather has been particularly difficult on them," said Heather Nevill, a veterinarian tracking the problem for the International Bird Rescue Research Center. "Maybe the fish stocks are particularly low. It might be more than one thing, all coming together at once."

Veterinarians and volunteers are nursing many pelicans back to health, but this is expensive and can't be done for all of them.

From the Guardian:

"These birds are on the freeway, getting run over," said Jay Holcomb, executive director of the rescue centre in San Pedro. "A bunch we've seen have been hit. They've been landing on yards five miles inland. When some of the people have captured them in parking lots, they just sit in the corner. They just go pick them up."

Via Seattle Times, Associated Press

Photos: Wikipedia

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    Comments (3)

    I bet Alfred Hitchcock is behind this!

    jump to top Anonymous says:

    Could be algae bloom, a certain type of algae produce a neurotoxin that sea birds ingest causing disorientation and death(some times mid-air). these types of bird deaths happen sometimes in southern California if the right type of algae bloom. It's believed that the movie "Birds" was inspired by this when Hitchcock saw many sea birds falling died from the sky onto homes and cars after a large algae bloom of this type when he was young.

    jump to top Anonymous says:

    There are lots of electro magnetic sources including the testing of systems designed to disrupt organic systems. Perhaps some testing of these systems is the cause. Although some of the information on the web is bogus, some of it is true. Scroogle.org electro magnetic effects

    jump to top Juan says:

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