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Maybe We Shouldn't Dispatch Injured Birds




BILL HILTON JR Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History <hilton@hiltonpond.org> wrote:
> Any bird that is found incurably injured is a potential museum >specimen. I believe that cervical dislocation on small bird is more 
>likely to damage the specimen.

>A thoracic squeeze is just as effective and less traumatic to the 
>squeezer, although it may take a bit longer than breaking the bird's 
>neck. Firm pressure applied with thumb and forefinger to both sides 
>of the breast will usually put the bird down within a matter of 
>seconds.

>If you do get a dead bird specimen, wrap it in a paper towel and put 
>it in a Ziploc bag and freeze it immediately, being sure to label the 
>bag and the specimen with information about when and where the bird 
>was found. Then contact your local college, museum, or nature center 
>about donating the bird to them for research and/or study purposes.


MAYBE NOT!  Go to the site: 

http://www.deh.enr.state.nc.us/phpm/pages/WNV_Alert/Bird_Form/bird_form.html

for a bird carcass reporting form for WNV epidemiology in NC.

>This all may be uncomfortable to discuss, but it is indeed important 
>to act humanely and to look toward using the deceased bird for a 
>useful purpose.


>BILL


But what about West Nile Virus?  That is definitely a consideration in NC since it has shown up here.  I find these recommendations to be most applicable to the pre-WNV days when we did not really have to worry too much about the communication of pathogens between avians and humans.  Now we do.  Here is a cut and paste job from the CDC's Vertebrate Ecology internet page

(http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/birds&mammals.htm):

START QUOTE

Vertebrate Ecology 

Transmission Cycle: West Nile (WN) virus is amplified during periods of adult mosquito blood-feeding by continuous transmission between mosquito vectors and bird reservoir hosts. Infectious mosquitoes carry virus particles in their salivary glands and infect susceptible bird species during blood-meal feeding. Competent bird reservoirs will sustainan infectious viremia for 1 to 4 days subsequent to exposure, after which these hosts develop life-long immunity. A sufficient number of vectors must feed on an infectious host to ensure that some survive the extrinsic incubation period (approximately 2 weeks, depending on temperature) to feed again on a susceptible reservoir host. People, horses, and most other mammals are not known to develop infectious-level viremias very often, and thus are probably "dead-end" or "incidental-hosts."

Birds: Through July 2001, more than 70 species of birds (mostly American crows) 

[Grammatical side quibble:  How can one "species" represent mostly?  Okay, okay, I know what they mean.]

have tested positive for WN virus either by virus isolation or nucleic acid testing. Birds infected with WN virus can die or become ill. 

There is no evidence that a person can get WN virus from handling live or dead infected birds. However, persons should avoid bare-handed contact when handling dead animals and use gloves or double plastic bags to place the bird carcass in a garbage can or contact their local health department for guidance. The U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) monitors bird mortality nationwide.

END OF QUOTE

Note that the CDC recommends gloves or double-bagged hands although the disease is mosquito-borne.  I'm certainly not squeamish but I know many who are and bearing this in mind is a good thing to do.

Jim Sutton
Durham