Bird mystery: Thousands disappear and abandon eggs, nests on island off Florida's Gulf Coast

a reply to: ObjectZero

I believe one of the articles I linked to in the thread, not sure which one, mentions they actually left at the end of April. Not sure if that has any bearing on it, but will try to find it and quote it later today.

I can't think of anything that happened in any of those months though.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

I've check both April and May for anything and have yet to find anything. Sure those two months we had some interaction with Cuba but I don't think that would cause this. There is an airport near that area already near that area so the bird had to be used to flight traffic.

There is other news at those times but nothing in that local area or that might effect that area.

In April 27th and May 12th the earthquakes hit Nepal but we've had other earthquakes there and birds didn't leave in mass from FL. That's about all I can can find at that time.

The most interesting point for me, is from the witness who said that there were tens of thousands of birds there on the Tuesday, but NONE the NEXT DAY (Wednesday). (I think he took tour boats near the area?)

For me, that immediately rules out most potential causes.
If it was a problem with the "food source", it wouldn't affect ALL of the species simultaneously. It would take days or weeks for several species to decide to up and leave.
Likewise the fresh water sources... different species would adapt - (like find other sources) or leave over a period of time, not ALL in one day.
Gas? Would ALL of the birds detect it and leave at once? Wouldn't some of the birds be less able to detect it? IDK.
Temperature Extremes? Would surely have been recorded, and again - wouldn't cause EVERY bird from every species to leave at once.
Predators? Snakes? Again - Why ALL of the birds simultaneously??? Why build nests... lay eggs... incubate a little... then ALL decide that it's time to leave?? How many thousands of snakes/predators would it take??
Disturbances? People aren't allowed close to the island during breeding season. Even if they were... how would they be able to make such a huge disturbance that Every bird from Every nest abandoned the Island at once? (Most birds would leave temporarily until the threat went away, then return?)

I must admit to being a bit stumped by this one.
Thanks for sharing.
GTD

magnetic field changes?

originally posted by: Gordi The Drummer
The most interesting point for me, is from the witness who said that there were tens of thousands of birds there on the Tuesday, but NONE the NEXT DAY (Wednesday). (I think he took tour boats near the area?)

For me, that immediately rules out most potential causes.
If it was a problem with the "food source", it wouldn't affect ALL of the species simultaneously. It would take days or weeks for several species to decide to up and leave.
Likewise the fresh water sources... different species would adapt - (like find other sources) or leave over a period of time, not ALL in one day.
Gas? Would ALL of the birds detect it and leave at once? Wouldn't some of the birds be less able to detect it? IDK.
Temperature Extremes? Would surely have been recorded, and again - wouldn't cause EVERY bird from every species to leave at once.
Predators? Snakes? Again - Why ALL of the birds simultaneously??? Why build nests... lay eggs... incubate a little... then ALL decide that it's time to leave?? How many thousands of snakes/predators would it take??
Disturbances? People aren't allowed close to the island during breeding season. Even if they were... how would they be able to make such a huge disturbance that Every bird from Every nest abandoned the Island at once? (Most birds would leave temporarily until the threat went away, then return?)

I must admit to being a bit stumped by this one.
Thanks for sharing.
GTD

I would suspect gas as the likely culprit from everything you explain above, but not methane, more likely hydrogen sulfide. A low enough dose of H2S would stink like rotten egg and not kill on the spot. For birds the dose needed to cause harm would be lower than for human so they may have experienced some effects from the gas and had time to know it was time to get the flock out of there!

What they should be doing is looking for any possible gas vents off the coast nearby, look for bubbling. They should even look inland along any of the rivers. That's not a very populated area. It's called the Nature Coast.

From what I understand the birds relocated from Seahorse Key to Snake Key. Apparently no one knows why.

www.gainesville.com...


www.facebook.com...

originally posted by: jrod
From what I understand the birds relocated from Seahorse Key to Snake Key. Apparently no one knows why.

www.gainesville.com...


www.facebook.com...

There were only a fraction of the birds that went to Snake Key. The rest are unaccounted for.

originally posted by: ObjectZero
a reply to: Vasa Croe

I've check both April and May for anything and have yet to find anything. Sure those two months we had some interaction with Cuba but I don't think that would cause this. There is an airport near that area already near that area so the bird had to be used to flight traffic.

There is other news at those times but nothing in that local area or that might effect that area.

In April 27th and May 12th the earthquakes hit Nepal but we've had other earthquakes there and birds didn't leave in mass from FL. That's about all I can can find at that time.

Yeah...I haven't been able to find anything localized to that area at all. Really nothing even not localized.

originally posted by: Gordi The Drummer
The most interesting point for me, is from the witness who said that there were tens of thousands of birds there on the Tuesday, but NONE the NEXT DAY (Wednesday). (I think he took tour boats near the area?)

For me, that immediately rules out most potential causes.
If it was a problem with the "food source", it wouldn't affect ALL of the species simultaneously. It would take days or weeks for several species to decide to up and leave.
Likewise the fresh water sources... different species would adapt - (like find other sources) or leave over a period of time, not ALL in one day.
Gas? Would ALL of the birds detect it and leave at once? Wouldn't some of the birds be less able to detect it? IDK.
Temperature Extremes? Would surely have been recorded, and again - wouldn't cause EVERY bird from every species to leave at once.
Predators? Snakes? Again - Why ALL of the birds simultaneously??? Why build nests... lay eggs... incubate a little... then ALL decide that it's time to leave?? How many thousands of snakes/predators would it take??
Disturbances? People aren't allowed close to the island during breeding season. Even if they were... how would they be able to make such a huge disturbance that Every bird from Every nest abandoned the Island at once? (Most birds would leave temporarily until the threat went away, then return?)

I must admit to being a bit stumped by this one.
Thanks for sharing.
GTD

Yep..all of the above. This one has me pretty stumped for trying to come up with an idea at all. Everything you mentioned is strange about this. I would have to rule out human possibilities for the same reasons you mentioned, as well as the Key being large enough that even if someone made a commotion on one side, its likely nothing would have heard it on the other side....

Just strange that so many birds can disappear overnight.

Thats....pretty crazy. makes me wonder

originally posted by: adryan3s
magnetic field changes?

Unless it was some sort of very directed magnetic field change only for this island, then it can't be that. There are other islands in close proximity that had no birds leave, and even a fraction of the birds that left Seahorse Key went to Snake Key.

originally posted by: Rezlooper

originally posted by: Gordi The Drummer
The most interesting point for me, is from the witness who said that there were tens of thousands of birds there on the Tuesday, but NONE the NEXT DAY (Wednesday). (I think he took tour boats near the area?)

For me, that immediately rules out most potential causes.
If it was a problem with the "food source", it wouldn't affect ALL of the species simultaneously. It would take days or weeks for several species to decide to up and leave.
Likewise the fresh water sources... different species would adapt - (like find other sources) or leave over a period of time, not ALL in one day.
Gas? Would ALL of the birds detect it and leave at once? Wouldn't some of the birds be less able to detect it? IDK.
Temperature Extremes? Would surely have been recorded, and again - wouldn't cause EVERY bird from every species to leave at once.
Predators? Snakes? Again - Why ALL of the birds simultaneously??? Why build nests... lay eggs... incubate a little... then ALL decide that it's time to leave?? How many thousands of snakes/predators would it take??
Disturbances? People aren't allowed close to the island during breeding season. Even if they were... how would they be able to make such a huge disturbance that Every bird from Every nest abandoned the Island at once? (Most birds would leave temporarily until the threat went away, then return?)

I must admit to being a bit stumped by this one.
Thanks for sharing.
GTD

I would suspect gas as the likely culprit from everything you explain above, but not methane, more likely hydrogen sulfide. A low enough dose of H2S would stink like rotten egg and not kill on the spot. For birds the dose needed to cause harm would be lower than for human so they may have experienced some effects from the gas and had time to know it was time to get the flock out of there!

What they should be doing is looking for any possible gas vents off the coast nearby, look for bubbling. They should even look inland along any of the rivers. That's not a very populated area. It's called the Nature Coast.

The problem with that idea is that there is a lot of other wildlife on this Key and apparently not affected. There were also a LOT of biologists and researchers there at the time and none of them have reported anything either.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe

originally posted by: Rezlooper

originally posted by: Gordi The Drummer
The most interesting point for me, is from the witness who said that there were tens of thousands of birds there on the Tuesday, but NONE the NEXT DAY (Wednesday). (I think he took tour boats near the area?)

For me, that immediately rules out most potential causes.
If it was a problem with the "food source", it wouldn't affect ALL of the species simultaneously. It would take days or weeks for several species to decide to up and leave.
Likewise the fresh water sources... different species would adapt - (like find other sources) or leave over a period of time, not ALL in one day.
Gas? Would ALL of the birds detect it and leave at once? Wouldn't some of the birds be less able to detect it? IDK.
Temperature Extremes? Would surely have been recorded, and again - wouldn't cause EVERY bird from every species to leave at once.
Predators? Snakes? Again - Why ALL of the birds simultaneously??? Why build nests... lay eggs... incubate a little... then ALL decide that it's time to leave?? How many thousands of snakes/predators would it take??
Disturbances? People aren't allowed close to the island during breeding season. Even if they were... how would they be able to make such a huge disturbance that Every bird from Every nest abandoned the Island at once? (Most birds would leave temporarily until the threat went away, then return?)

I must admit to being a bit stumped by this one.
Thanks for sharing.
GTD

I would suspect gas as the likely culprit from everything you explain above, but not methane, more likely hydrogen sulfide. A low enough dose of H2S would stink like rotten egg and not kill on the spot. For birds the dose needed to cause harm would be lower than for human so they may have experienced some effects from the gas and had time to know it was time to get the flock out of there!

What they should be doing is looking for any possible gas vents off the coast nearby, look for bubbling. They should even look inland along any of the rivers. That's not a very populated area. It's called the Nature Coast.

The problem with that idea is that there is a lot of other wildlife on this Key and apparently not affected. There were also a LOT of biologists and researchers there at the time and none of them have reported anything either.

Birds are of the smallest creatures so other animals might not have been affected, or the dose low enough, there wasn't anything they could do about it anyways. Also, a plume of gas wouldn't sit over the island, it would blow through so not hard to believe that any biologists in the area might have missed it...the whiff of rotten egg. Especially in Florida...they think nothing of smelling rotten egg nowadays cuz they smell it so often compared to everywhere else. I'm just throwing this out there, but yes, the mystery still remains, but so far, it's one of the best plausible explanations.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe

originally posted by: Rezlooper

originally posted by: Gordi The Drummer
The most interesting point for me, is from the witness who said that there were tens of thousands of birds there on the Tuesday, but NONE the NEXT DAY (Wednesday). (I think he took tour boats near the area?)

For me, that immediately rules out most potential causes.
If it was a problem with the "food source", it wouldn't affect ALL of the species simultaneously. It would take days or weeks for several species to decide to up and leave.
Likewise the fresh water sources... different species would adapt - (like find other sources) or leave over a period of time, not ALL in one day.
Gas? Would ALL of the birds detect it and leave at once? Wouldn't some of the birds be less able to detect it? IDK.
Temperature Extremes? Would surely have been recorded, and again - wouldn't cause EVERY bird from every species to leave at once.
Predators? Snakes? Again - Why ALL of the birds simultaneously??? Why build nests... lay eggs... incubate a little... then ALL decide that it's time to leave?? How many thousands of snakes/predators would it take??
Disturbances? People aren't allowed close to the island during breeding season. Even if they were... how would they be able to make such a huge disturbance that Every bird from Every nest abandoned the Island at once? (Most birds would leave temporarily until the threat went away, then return?)

I must admit to being a bit stumped by this one.
Thanks for sharing.
GTD

I would suspect gas as the likely culprit from everything you explain above, but not methane, more likely hydrogen sulfide. A low enough dose of H2S would stink like rotten egg and not kill on the spot. For birds the dose needed to cause harm would be lower than for human so they may have experienced some effects from the gas and had time to know it was time to get the flock out of there!

What they should be doing is looking for any possible gas vents off the coast nearby, look for bubbling. They should even look inland along any of the rivers. That's not a very populated area. It's called the Nature Coast.

The problem with that idea is that there is a lot of other wildlife on this Key and apparently not affected. There were also a LOT of biologists and researchers there at the time and none of them have reported anything either.

Here are a few links that explain how sensitive birds are to toxins.
en.wiktionary.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
www.wisegeek.org...

Fantastic thread and I will be following this one, the first thing to cross my mind was the BP Fiasco with the Corexit but time will tell.
Link to the toxic chemical known as a highly used chemical in the gulf spill.
en.wikipedia.org...

S&F
Regards, Iwinder

a reply to: Rezlooper

www.ocala.com...

Is it possible that bird flu is somehow involved here? I know the bird flu has been tracked going from the US northwest as far as Arkansas, but I don't know if it has moved any closer to Florida since then. In areas of high concentrations of birds the bird flu can kill 90% of a flock in as little as 48 hours. (Stephanie Strom, Business Day, 5/14/15)

That could at least partly explain the absence of some of the birds, but that would also leave an equal amount of evidence behind...

Okay. I'm only half way through the second page and I'm sure I'll find this answer before the end of the thread but was it the fireworks?

Eta. Oh, probably not since it was in May.

originally posted by: Vroomfondel
Is it possible that bird flu is somehow involved here? I know the bird flu has been tracked going from the US northwest as far as Arkansas, but I don't know if it has moved any closer to Florida since then. In areas of high concentrations of birds the bird flu can kill 90% of a flock in as little as 48 hours. (Stephanie Strom, Business Day, 5/14/15)

That could at least partly explain the absence of some of the birds, but that would also leave an equal amount of evidence behind...

I don't think it was anything that killed them as they have not found 20K bird bodies anywhere. If they all died anywhere near there, it would be all over the news.....it was a LOT of birds that disappeared.

originally posted by: chrisss
Okay. I'm only half way through the second page and I'm sure I'll find this answer before the end of the thread but was it the fireworks?

Eta. Oh, probably not since it was in May.

Early celebrations!

Definitely wasn't fireworks. Odd though that something was eventful enough to make them leave their unborn in the nest and head out....not just one particular bird, but all the different types of birds....they all left.

a reply to: Vroomfondel

www.friendsofrefuges.org...

the results of a necropsy proved that Avian Bird Flu is not to blame

One more theory to rule out.