Cold kills 100 pelicans

[Donna]

some may have huddled together to stay warm


The bodies of more than 100 pelicans and other birds were found on Sand Island this week when the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service followed up on a tip from the public.

A dead pelican with an identification tag is seen on Sand Island off the coast of Alabama. Wildlife officials believe it likely was a victim of the extreme cold temperatures in the Deep South.Biologists believe the birds were killed by the extreme cold. Some appeared to have been dead for as long as two weeks, while others had been dead for a day or two, according to officials.

Five birds were sent to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., for necropsies to pinpoint the cause of death.

The carcasses were all located around the southern tip of Sand Island, which is now a peninsula attached to Dauphin Island on the Alabama coast.



"Local residents tell us it's not uncommon for juvenile birds to die in colder temperatures. But a mortality rate this high is too unusual to be ignored," said Pete Tuttle, a federal biologist.

Most of the dead animals were pelicans, though a few least terns died as well, according to officials.

The Press-Register has also received reports of fish kills, primarily involving mullet, in Dog River and Halls Mill Creek. Fish kills have occurred around Mobile Bay during extreme cold weather several times in the last 10 years.

Photos provided by Fish & Wildlife officials show the birds heaped behind small sand dunes as if they died while huddling together to escape cold north winds. All of the pelicans in the photographs appeared to be juvenile birds.

This weather is killing birds and fish all around the globe....it's tragic.