(Newser)
– During the pandemic, health experts discouraged people from gathering in large groups to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Now wildlife biologists are advising bird enthusiasts to help prevent birds from flocking in an effort to stem the rise in cases of salmonellosis, a fatal and rapidly spreading intestinal disease, reports SFGate. And that means removing bird feeders and baths from your property. In recent months, the California Department of Fisheries and Wildlife has been “flooded” with calls from people who have found sick or dead finches in bird feeders, the agency said in a statement. Birds contract salmonellosis, which is caused by Salmonella, when they eat food or water, or come into contact with objects contaminated with the feces of an infected bird. Most birds die a day after infection, an avian disease specialist told LiveScience.
Pine trees, a type of chaffinch, were the most affected. But the disease has also been reported in minor goldfinches and American goldfinches. In California, reports of infected birds come largely from communities in the Central Coast, Bay Area and Sierra Nevada, officials say. But reports of a “worrying number” of infected birds are also coming in from across the country. THE News and Observer reports that people in North Carolina are being asked to remove their feeders. And the same goes for South Carolina residents, according to the state. “Keeping bird feeders clean and temporarily removing them in the coming weeks is something people can do to help keep birds safe” as they migrate north for the next four weeks, an expert says this year’s pine outbreak – the increase in the number of birds migrating – is the biggest in a decade, according to the Audubon Society. (Read more stories of dead birds.)