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发帖数: 18685 | 1 http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53114352-78/birds-cedar-eared
Thousands of confused water fowl crash-land in Cedar City
Cedar City The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources office in Cedar City
had thousands of dead, injured and confused Eared Grebes on its hands after
the migrating birds crash-landed in the southcentral Utah community.
DWR spokeswoman Amy Canning confirmed that a large flock of the water fowl p
lunged from the skies Monday night. An estimated 1,500 birds died after hitt
ing the parking lot of a Walmart store and other open areas of the city.
"These Eared Grebes were migrating south, as they usually do this time of ye
ar, but this time it was during a storm. We’re thinking they mistook the gl
istening of the [Walmart] parking lot for a lake," Canning said Wednesday. "
Thousands of the birds went down [and] some were killed, but we also rescued
a bunch. Citizens were bringing them in from all over Cedar City."
Cedar City resident Josh Schaffer dropped off a live bird on Wednesday after
noon that he found along the side of a road. Between Tuesday and Wednesday,
he said, he brought 31 of the live birds to the DWR.
Schaffer, who works clearing snow from Cedar City businesses, said he found
the birds in different locations around the city and in open fields — live
birds mixed in with dead ones.
"Some are having a hard time," he said.
Keith Day, a wildlife biologist with the DWR in Cedar City, said downed bird
s were reported from Enoch just north of Cedar City to at least Kannaraville
, about 15 miles south of Cedar. The dead birds will be disposed of in a lan
dfill.
He said the incident has created interest around the country, including at t
he University of Wisconsin, which requested some of the birds for display, a
nd from a researcher at the Smithsonian Institution who has been studying th
e species for 25 years.
In all, DWR staffers and volunteers were able to rescue up to 3,500 of the b
irds. Most were taken about 60 miles south to Quail Lake, near St. George, a
nd released on Tuesday.
Lynn Chamber, an information and education specialist for DWR’s southern re
gion, said Cedar City residents continued to bring birds to the agency’s of
fice on Wednesday. "We check them out and then take them down [to the lake]
and release them, too," he said.
Chamberlain said there have been rare, past occasions where migrating water
fowl have crash-landed in the region, but never in memory by such numbers.
He estimated that roughly 35 percent of the Eared Grebes that came down from
stormy skies Monday night died, putting the total number of the top-heavy b
irds that are thought to have attempted landings at near 5,000.
"These birds just aren’t built for landing on the ground, they’re designed
for the water," he said. "They are big-bodied birds relative to their size
and compared to [the length of] their wings. And when they land, they come d
own fast, at 30 to 35 mph."
If they land on water, the birds — which feed by diving for insects — are
fine. But their legs, located toward the rear of their bodies, won’t suppor
t ground landings. "They hit the ground and tumble, and that leads to broken
wings, broken necks and broken bodies," Chamberlain said.
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: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53114352-78/birds-cedar-eared
: Thousands of confused water fowl crash-land in Cedar City
: Cedar City The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources office in Cedar City
: had thousands of dead, injured and confused Eared Grebes on its hands after
: the migrating birds crash-landed in the southcentral Utah community.
: DWR spokeswoman Amy Canning confirmed that a large flock of the water fowl p
: lunged from the skies Monday night. An estimated 1,500 birds died after hitt
: ing the parking lot of a Walmart store and other open areas of the city.
: "These Eared Grebes were migrating south, as they usually do this time of ye
: ar, but this time it was during a storm. We’re thinking they mistook the gl
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