# Bird deaths shut down downtown Austin



## Johnny Thunder (Feb 24, 2006)

*Bird deaths shut down downtown Austin*
By JIM VERTUNO, Associated Press Writer
37 minutes ago

Police shut down 10 blocks of businesses in the heart of downtown early Monday after dozens of birds were found dead in the streets, but officials said preliminary tests showed no dangerous chemicals in the air.

As many as 60 dead pigeons, sparrows and grackles were found overnight along Congress Avenue, a main route through downtown. No human injuries or illnesses were reported.

"We do not feel there is a threat to the public health," said Adolfo Valadez, the medical director for Austin and Travis County Health and Human Services. He said preliminary air-quality tests showed no dangerous chemicals and the area should reopen around noon.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said officials had no credible information to suggest any imminent threat to the city.

On Congress Avenue, just outside the state Capitol, emergency workers donned yellow hazardous-material suits Monday morning, and dozens of fire trucks and ambulances were parked nearby.

Workers were testing for any sort of environmental contaminant or gas or chlorine leaks that might have cause the bird deaths, said police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz. At least one bird carcass was being tested locally for other possible causes, and other carcasses were shipped to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Texas A&M University.

Valadez said the tests on the dead birds would likely take several days and look for signs of poisoning or viral infections, though he said officials do not think bird flu is involved.

A 10-block stretch of Congress Avenue, several side streets and all buildings in the area were shut down and declared off-limits as a precaution, Chovanetz said.

The street closure stretched from just outside the Capitol to a section of the Colorado River known as Town Lake. The Capitol opened on schedule Monday, the day before the legislative session was to begin.

On the East Coast, New York City also had a scare Monday morning when a mysterious gas odor moved across Manhattan. It wasn't immediately clear what had caused the odor, and it dissipated fairly quickly. No injuries or damage to wildlife was immediately reported.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070108/ap_on_re_us/austin_shutdown


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## Johnny Thunder (Feb 24, 2006)

So Austin is shut down due to bizarre bird deaths, but no gas is found, while in NYC there's a weird gas smell all over? Hmmmmm......


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## Johnny Thunder (Feb 24, 2006)

*And now in Australia.....*

*Mystery as hundreds of birds fall from sky in Australia *
Thu Jan 11, 1:31 PM ET

Australian authorities are investigating the mysterious deaths of hundreds of birds that dropped from the sky over a small coastal town in a period of a few weeks.

Residents of Esperance in Western Australia found their suburban properties littered with the bodies of honeyeaters, wattle birds and yellow-throated miners, local media reported this week.

Michelle Crisp told the Australian newspaper she and her neighbour had counted 80 dead birds in one day. "It was like a moonscape, just horrible," she said.

"The loss of birds has been so noticeable people are saying 'We've just got no birds in the garden at all', or 'We're getting no dawn chorus,'" conservationist Graeme Hamilton told AFP Thursday.

Hamilton, chief executive of the country's main bird conservation group, Birds Australia, said he had never heard of bird deaths on the scale seen in Esperance.

"Certainly several hundred birds have been reported dead to the department of the environment but it may be up to several thousand as not every dead bird would have been reported."

He said the only possible explanations would be a sudden epidemic of disease or a natural or manmade toxic substance.

"No other animal groups seem to be affected, we're not turning up dead cats and dogs and marsupials," he said. "It's a mystery."

The states' department of food and agriculture has conducted autopsies on several birds.

"It doesn't appear to be an infectious cause. Certainly, one thing that is being considered is a toxin," said acting chief veterinary officer Fiona Sunderman.

"The birds are dying around sprinklers, water tanks, bird baths. They're seeking water and they're dying around those water points," said district nature conservation co-ordinator Mike Fitzgerald.

Esperance, surrounded by lakes, offshore islands and national parks, was renowned for its bird life.


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## skullboy (Sep 21, 2006)

johnnythunder said:


> *And now in Australia.....*
> 
> *Mystery as hundreds of birds fall from sky in Australia *
> Thu Jan 11, 1:31 PM ET
> ...


I wish all the damn birds here would die.They keep ****ting on my truck.


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## roadkill (May 11, 2006)

a later news report said the birds were drunk.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

Seriously?


roadkill said:


> a later news report said the birds were drunk.


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## roadkill (May 11, 2006)

Seriously - something about the birds having eaten some berries that were partially fermented or something like that. I'll see if I can't find the article.


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## Johnny Thunder (Feb 24, 2006)

http://tafkac.org/animals/drunken_birds.html


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## dynoflyer (Oct 8, 2006)

Can we feed that to pigeons?


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