Birds are dropping dead in Arlington and DC region prompting an investigation into cause
By Ayesha Khan
DMV residents are reporting seeing dead birds throughout the region.
ARLINGTON, Va. - People in several parts of the DMV are finding random dead birds everywhere in their neighborhoods, prompting an investigation.
The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources reported on their Facebook that they have been getting a lot of reports and are testing some of the dead birds, but because they came to know about it just recently, it’s going to take a few days to get the results.
Fox 5’s Ayesha Khan came to know about the sick and dead animals from people talking on social media especially in the Lyons Park area of Arlington.
Credit Virginia Tech
Sea birds have long nested near the Hampton Roads Bridge and Tunnel complex because the waters around it are rich with food, and at Virginia’s Department of Wildlife Resources, Director Ryan Brown says the new habitat has served them well.
“The project actually resulted in the most successful nesting season that we have on record for that area on this new innovative habitat that is the first of its type to be constructed on the east coast of the United States.”
Crews spread sand across about two acres on Ft. Wool – an island built in 1813 to bolster neighboring Fort Monroe. They removed trees where predators could perch and anchored barges at the shore. That suited the birds, but historic preservationists are squawking. They say too little attention has been given to Ft. Wool with its parade ground and steel tower used to keep watch during World War II. They’d like the island restored and public tours resumed.
Birds are dying in large numbers across Arlington and much of the D.C. area, prompting an investigation. Dead birds have become an eerily common sight along
Birds are going blind in the D.C. region, and wildlife experts don’t know why
There is no knowing – at least not yet – whether what is grounding the young birds is contagious to humans, being caused by humans or simply happening in an area heavily populated by humans.
By Theresa VargasThe Washington Post
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Alexandra Dimsdale found this young, blind grackle stumbling outside her Washington, D.C., home. She took it to a wildlife rehabilitator but learned it couldn t be saved. Alexandra Dimsdale via The Washington Post
WASHINGTON In the video, the young grackle takes a few wobbly steps along a sidewalk, pauses and then wobbles some more.