Green Group discussion

Humans are not the only ones suffering from pandemics.

Blue Jays, Grackles, Other Birds Dying From Mysterious Ailment

Something is killing several species of birds from midwest Ohio to the east coast Washington DC area. The cause is unknown at this time. People are being asked to report sightings of any kind of dead birds.

West Nile virus and other known viruses have been ruled out. It could turn out to be tainted cicadas. Either by toxic chemicals in the cicadas from human activity or some kind of fungus that is growing on them. Fungi have been increasingly plaguing humans in hospital settings because the preventive measures for stopping covid in hospitals has little effect on fungi. If it is cicadas the deaths will stop once the cicadas are all gone in the fall.

The bluejay population in my area is a fraction of what it was last year. The blackbirds, grackles and starlings are also in lower numbers but their numbers change every year. But there has always been a strong bluejay presence every year. The finches are way down this year. It was reported earlier in the year that salmonella was killing them off.

https://www.npr.org/local/305/2021/06...

Any update on this one?
Greenfinches are suffering from an illness this year in Ireland and I have not seen any all winter.

We went from an abundance of different kinds of finches a few years ago to where I have only seen one in the past 8 months and very few in the months before that.

The mysterious illness affecting Jays, Grackles, and other birds is gone but the source still remains unknown.

This spring I have noticed fewer Grackles and Starlings have returned from where they spent the winter.

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2...

Starlings in Ireland have two ploys. One set will stay put over winter, as a mild winter is survivable if they are not in large numbers. The other set will head south to Africa. This ensures that one or the other set, or both, should be able to nest in spring.
A hard winter here means they need help from humans.
A drought in Africa means they need to spend extra energy travelling.
Some birds of various small species also develop a fault in navigation so they leave the European continent and head west instead of south. That puts them in Ireland / Britain. This is considered to be how we get a wintering population of blackcaps from Germany, for instance. Their good luck, this is survivable.