If you do find dead birds like this (if they're fresh and not freeze-dried or damaged) you can store them in your freezer in plastic bag so they can be donated to the Cornell Museum of Vertebrates the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (when they eventually are open for the public again). I'm not sure if there's any system in place currently for accepting specimens. If you decide to store one, you should put a little slip of paper in the bag that says the date, location, and how the bird died (or how you found it). You don't have to worry about identifying the bird if you don't know what it is. And freezer bags are always better, since they're made for keeping things safe in a freezer.
--Brad On Mon, Feb 22, 2021 at 10:29 AM Donna Lee Scott <d...@cornell.edu> wrote: > Over a month ago, I found one dead Siskin under my backyard feeders. > 16 others seemed fine & later moved on to somewhere else. > > Donna Scott > Lansing > Sent from my iPhone > > On Feb 22, 2021, at 9:56 AM, Wesley M. Hochachka <w...@cornell.edu> wrote: > > If the dead birds were siskins, redpolls, or goldfinches, my first > reaction is that the birds died from salmonellosis, and potentially you > might have observed these birds sitting motionless and incredibly puffed up > near the bird feeder at some point before you found the dead bird on the > ground. > > Salmonellosis outbreaks, which particularly hit siskins and redpolls, are > an unfortunately predictable corollary of irruptions of these species. > Taking down your thistle feeder to disperse the birds might reduce further > transmission, but it's hard to tell because the birds could just start > congregating (maybe in larger numbers) at some other bird feeder in the > area. > > Wesley Hochachka > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: bounce-125406737-3494...@list.cornell.edu < > bounce-125406737-3494...@list.cornell.edu> On Behalf Of Patrizia Sione > Sent: Monday, February 22, 2021 9:30 AM > To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> > Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Dead birds under the thistle feeder > > Hello all, > > In the course of the past 10 days, we have discovered a dead bird under a > feeder in three separate occasions, the latest this morning. No apparent > injury. The thistle is fresh (it goes pretty quickly) and we keep the > feeders clean and sanitized. We called the Cornell hospital but they did > not accept our request to have a necropsy conducted on the birds (we kept > two of them in a sealed freezer bag outside). We have decals and nets > outside our windows to prevent birds from hitting them. > > Any ideas about what could be causing this and how to prevent it from > happening again? It is the first time it has ever happened to us in the 10 > years we’ve lived in our present location, and all this time we’ve fed > birds. > > Many thanks, > Patrizia Sione > > > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > -- > > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- > > -- > *Cayugabirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> > BirdingOnThe.Net <http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> > *Please submit your observations to eBird > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>!* > -- > -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --