# The nearby flock



## flitsnowzoom (Mar 20, 2007)

Hi,
Just a general question about feral flocks.

There's a feral flock (or was) that came over to a highway interchange and was there almost every morning for at least the past 5 years. If they weren't on the ground hunting for food, they were on the nearby power lines (where did birds sit before power lines   ). They were there during the hardest part of winter but within the past few weeks, there's only a few birds now. There were probably 50-60 including some pure whites (they always stood out so just seeing them always reassured my son and me that these birds lived in relative safety since the standouts were still around). Now they're gone, as are many other flocks that we used to pass on our daily travels. I've not seen any carcasses in the area, but that means little since we can't stop and walk in the area they graze. 
I'm hoping it's the nesting season, but I worry that something else may be afoot in the bird population. (not the grackles or starlings, beaucoups of those). Is there something that can sweep through pigeons and wipe them out? (I'm sure the city would be thrilled). Are they affected by the West Nile virus? It's a bit cold still for the skeeters to have bred, but . . .

Anyway, just wondering if anyone has ideas.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I'm sorry you haven't seen the familiar feral flocks of the past. 

Yes, there is something that wipes them out, mankind.

I think their biggest enemy is man,without a doubt, as the pest control companies do poison them (Avitrol). They usually clean up all birds as required by the dept, of fish and game.

If you do a search you will come up with alot of threads on this subject.


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## flitsnowzoom (Mar 20, 2007)

*How can we be so cruel?*



Trees Gray said:


> I'm sorry you haven't seen the familiar feral flocks of the past.
> 
> Yes, there is something that wipes them out, mankind.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the sad info  . I appreciate you opening my eyes to another typical human response to our ability to "control" nature. I have to wonder sometimes why in the world we were put at the top of the food chain. And we call ourselves the smartest beings on the face of Earth.
ARRRGGGH!

I went over to the Avitrol web site. Here is their FAQ sheet. I noticed that the secondary hazards link down in the body of the text takes one to a link that is no longer there. Wonder why? Not really.

http://www.avitrol.com/GrainFAQ/index.php#Is there a secondary poisoning problem with Avitrol


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

Hopefully, they are sitting nests this time of year.

We have a huge feral flock no more than 1/4 mile from us that is ideal - many barns, two large ponds and fields planted in grain. During the winter and at other times during the year we can see well over 100 sunning on a power line that runs beside the road and more on top of a large barn. Then, they can go weeks without being seen and I despair that they have been killed, only to go by and there they are again.

We also have had a large feral flock at a overpass. Most of our rescues come from this bridge. The numbers fluctuate and for about the past three years it seems fewer are there. I don't think anyone is poisoning them but rather maybe natural things like canker or cocci or something like that may run through a flock. My husband is able to walk there every day and has seen no evidence of poison.

Just keep looking and hopefully your guys will pop back up - babies in tow!


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