[MASSBIRD] Poisoned birds Westboro

[Jonathan Giacomini]

Today I came across five dead Robins and one Cedar Waxwing in a row, spaced about 4 feet from each other. All six were laying on a black mulch bed. It appeared that the birds had been eating something in the mulch because of the numerous holes they dug.

The location is 1900 West Park drive in Westboro. It's a large office park. The birds were along the mulch bed that lines the loading dock in the back. I checked the rest of the business park and did not find any other signs. I noted that there were no other mulch beds with as many holes dug by the birds. This particular bed had hundreds of holes while others had a few here and there.

It appears to be a poison. I just wanted to share this since I think it's an awful shame. Thanks

-Jonathan Giacomini

[Glenn d'Entremont]

Robins and waxwings feed on fruit at this time of year. My guess is they were flushed into an oncoming truck. Are there fruit trees lining the drive?

Glenn

Glenn d'Entremont: gdentr...@comcast.net Stoughton, MA

[French, Tom (MISC)]

Jonathan:

A couple of MASSBIRD readers shared your posting with me yesterday. This morning, two days after your observation of 5 dead American Robins and a Cedar Waxwing, I visited the loading dock area at the office building in Westborough where you described seeing the dead birds. Since both robins and waxwings are currently feeding heavily on berries, I was expecting to see ornamental fruit-bearing trees and shrubs planted around this office building, but there were none in the area. The nearly black mulch that you described around the shrubs and trees that were present was striking, but even after digging through it I could not find anything that would attract these two bird species that might be toxic.

However, the windows on both stories of this building and the two other nearby office buildings could hardly be designed to be more dangerous to birds. All three of these buildings are tucked into an oak woods with many mature trees left standing up close to the buildings. The exterior of each floor of the buildings is constructed of red brick on the lower half (about 4 feet) and a continuous band of very dark tented glass on the upper half. The tented glass is so dark that I could not easily see into the offices even when standing close. The result was a powerful mirrored reflection of the surrounding trees and shrubs.

As I looked closely at the windows, I found two spots in the area you described that still had one or more small breast feathers stuck to the glass where a bird had struck. Walking around to another side of the building, I found two other collision spots with small feathers still stuck to the glass. I suspect this is the most likely cause of death for the birds you saw. I was not able to locate any old or fresh bird carcasses.

Tom


Tom French
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
508-389-6355 - office

-----Original Message-----
From: massbird...@theworld.com [mailto:massbird...@theworld.com] On Behalf Of Jonathan Giacomini
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2012 12:32 PM
To: mass...@TheWorld.com
Subject: [MASSBIRD] Poisoned birds Westboro