Dead birds puzzle scientists

2004-03-25 08:27

Anchorage - Thousands of dead or starving seabirds have fallen out of the sky or washed up on beaches along the south-central coast of Alaska, and scientists say they don't know why.

Up to 2 000 dead or ill common murres, which resemble penguins, have been spotted this month, according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

"It's staggering," said Verena Gill, a biologist with the agency. She said the figure was probably a fraction of the total number of affected birds.

Tom Van Pelt, a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, said the recent deaths could be linked to severe weather, such as high wind and ice, or a scarcity of fish.

Scientists don't know if the starvation is a natural die-off, like the one that killed more than 100 000 of Alaska's 10 million murres in 1993, said John Piatt, a US Geological Survey biologist.

Natural die-offs happen to common murres periodically, he said.

The birds are about 43 centimetres tall, with white bellies and dark brown colouring on their backs and heads. They weigh about one kilogram when healthy and their primary food source is herring.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is sending some of the birds to the USGS National Wildlife Centre in Madison, Wisconsin, which investigates unusual animal deaths.

- AP