I have been shocked by the news of the deaths of thousands of budgerigars, crimson chat, zebra finches and cockatiels. The second story came out 2 hrs ago saying there is more to come with the closure of 22 free-flowing bores in the Gascoyne area.
Thousands of birds die in sweltering heat.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,27574,24907390-2761,00.html
‘Slow death for animals’ if Gascoyne bores closed.
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=146&ContentID=119136
Thanks for the new links, to this story Fantail.
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Personally, I will wait for the testing results of water, before ruling out "heavy metal" contamination - something we have seen before in Esperance WA.
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Certainly some of these species, especially Budgies, are known for "population explosions", which inevitably lead to population collapses (large numbers of deaths). However, the connection in the second article to closure of water sources (freely flowing artesian bores) makes more sense than simply the "heat wave" part of the story.
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After all, they would need to establish that the heat this season so much worse than in other years that would trigger such enormous losses. But closing off water outlets which birds have been using could make such a difference that birds would die.
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It is well known that open artesian bores in central Australia have supported enormous populations of Camels, for example - more than could possibly have flourished without these man-made bores. But while people notice Camels, they might not notice the build up of large populations of small birds (as well).
Denis Wilson
www.peonyden.blogspot.com