Scientists Puzzled by Increasing Beak Deformities
- Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:40am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Scientists have observed the highest rate of beak abnormalities ever recorded in wild bird populations in Alaska and the Northwest, a study by two federal scientists said.
The U.S. Geological Survey study on beak deformities in northwestern crows in Alaska, Washington and British Columbia follows a trend found earlier in Alaska’s black-capped chickadees.
“The prevalence of these strange deformities is more than 10 times what is normally expected in a wild bird population,” said research biologist Colleen Handel.
Handel and wildlife biologist Caroline Van Hemert published their findings in The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology. They captured Alaska crows in six coastal locations and used documented reports and photographs for birds elsewhere.
The cause of the deformity — called “avian keratin disorder” — hasn’t been determined, Handel said. An estimated 17 percent of adult northwestern crows are affected by the disorder in coastal Alaska.
The keratin layer of the beak becomes overgrown, resulting in elongated and often crossed beaks. The deformity showed up in adults birds, most often in the upper beak but sometimes in the lower beak or both.
The abnormality sometimes is accompanied by elongated claws, abnormal skin or variations in feather color.
Van Hemert said the disorder first was noticed in significant numbers around 1999. It has increased dramatically over the past decade, affecting 6.5 percent of adult black-capped chickadees in Alaska annually.
Biologists have documented more than 2,100 affected individuals and increasing numbers of other species, such as nuthatches and woodpeckers, have been spotted with beak deformities.
Both chickadees and northwestern crows live year-round in Alaska with generally restricted seasonal movements between wintering and breeding areas, but do not forage in the same areas, the researchers said.
“They’re eating different things, they live in different habitat — crows are mostly intertidal, chickadees tend to be in birch forests — they‘re kind of occurring in different parts of their habitats and ecosystems and they’re still affected by what seems to be the same problem,” Van Hemert said.
The scientists said beak deformities can be caused by environmental contaminants, nutritional deficiencies, and bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic infections.
In the past, large clusters of beak deformities have been associated with environmental pollutants such as organochlorines in the Great Lakes region and selenium from agricultural runoff in California.
The deformities affect birds’ ability to feed, Van Hemert said, though many birds appear to cope by relying on food provided by humans at feeders rather than foraging.
Deformed beaks also can prevent adequate preening, she said, leaving feathers matted, dirty and without insulating value needed to survive the cold.
The increasing occurrence of deformities in multiple bird species with broad geographic distribution suggests that avian keratin disorder is spreading, they said.
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Comments (69)
Tishacious
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 1:22pmIt is birdfeeder frenzy desease.
Report Post »Tishacious
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 1:20pmWhere is a picture of this deformaty?
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 1:12pmWell, it can‘t be ’evolution’ because that only works to improve a species. Must be DDT.
Report Post »bigdaddybernie
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 1:03pmIt is all the fault of white,male Christian,heterosexual,blonde haired,blue eyed,German,Catholics !
Report Post »Reagan was Right
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 12:31pmThis has been known about for 10 years.
Another generation of scientists rediscovering things that we already know about.
This is an example of how stupid our society has become.
This reminds me of how they always talk of the European explorers discovering lands.
They did not discover anything.
The lands were always there and people always live there.
Report Post »carolinalockie
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 11:56amOverexposure to liberal double-speak, causing them to speak out of both sides of their mouths at once.
Report Post »Red1492
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 11:55amProbably environmentally caused. We dump enough toxins in our water that it’s bound to happen somewhere along the line. Though I’m not foolish enough to think that global warming is fact, but neither am I dumb enough not to believe that we don’t worsen our environment. Cherynobl, Love Canal Waste Dump, Three Mile Island, PG & E Chromium leak – all had disastrous effects on people with new generations of children with severe disabilities. I believe in the free market but we do have to have standards set in place and we shouldn‘t buy from countries that don’t. Money talks.
Report Post »neverending
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 11:16ambarry’s presidency even sent the birds off the cliff!
Report Post »kindling
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 11:08amThis is upsetting because it means there is something really wrong, but if one person says it is caused by global warming I will scream!
Report Post »stopprintn
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:57amIf the IPCC does not end the AGW farce, sience is going down the craper. Another job for Issa this coming year. He is gonna be busy. Maybe a strange virus that only effecs librals will come along, and nobody will know who to trust with a solution, after they ruin honest sience.
Report Post »RodT82721
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:50amThis is just the first step on the road to blaming the evil Capitalist. It will wind up being the fault of big-oil. This is how the nit-wits, that live in academia, push Congress to do things that ultimately harm more then they help.
Remember the ‘Silent Spring’, that led to the banning of DDT. That in the end also ended the lives of millions, from all those pesky mosquitoes. Oops, those unintended consequences.
Report Post »Bobby P
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:23amHow does one get a job as a professional pecker checker?
Report Post »docvet
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:36amI qualify, I was a Navy Corpsman. But only in the summer, I don’t do cold (Alabama resident).
Report Post »Slevdog1
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:19amI have to ask…….how much did this study cost to us, the taxpayer?
Report Post »starman70
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:27amYou don’t want to know!!!!!!
Report Post »KE_in_IA
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:13am“though many birds appear to cope by relying on food provided by humans at feeders rather than foraging.” That’s part of the problem! IMHO – Allow the deformed birds to die BEFORE they have the chance to reproduce. Let nature take its course.
Report Post »untameable-kate
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 12:01pmHistory shows again and again how nature abhors the folly of man,… Godzilla!!!
Report Post »PatriotDaze
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:09amIts EVOLUTION !! Quick, alert Sarah, Sharron and Christine.
Report Post »SecretPolice
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:05amHmm, wonder how much this will cost us – Me thinks it’s likely more so called scientist flipping us the bird.
Report Post »Man-bearpigdogs
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:01amThey’ve been cross-mutated with a liberal gene. Causes mental and physical abnormalities,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Eventually the sub-species die off.
Report Post »JohnnyJT
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:58amOh God, it’s the end of the world. Were all going to die.
Report Post »HKS
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:07amRun for the hills, it’s the event. The bend beak crows are coming.
Report Post »starman70
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:54amIt‘s Bush’s fault. Blame global warming.
Report Post »mrlogan3
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 12:40pmBut it’s real http://www.jri.org.uk/resource/images/fig2.jpg
Report Post »HillBillySam1
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:52amI think that the cause is due to the little birdies beating their heads against the ground after watching any of the programming on MSNBC. Please, please, please……somebody in Alaska change the channel.
Report Post »I had a pet snake once that I named “Olbermann”…..he bit himself repeatedly and died…..he wasn’t even a poisinous snake……I cried for a week.
what4
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:50amReally look at that beak on soros!
Report Post »MidAmerican
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:49amI’m sure its something caused by evil humans. Of course, all we have to do is spend $$$’s to install
Report Post »tens of thousands of more bird feeders to compensate. Whether it’s people or its birds, feed them
a few times and they become “dependent”. This won’t be the end of this story….lol
J-Fray
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:01amFirst we have to research a way to engineer a seed that the birds can eat with the new deformed beaks. Then we mass produce the seed in China just to have the Libs tell us that the seed is now causing the beaks to change back to the way they were. Now we are hurting the enviroment for stoping the natural change of the beaks, the birds are all fat and now a bug population has increased so much we have to spend more money on stopping the growth of the birds natural food. Oh yea now that the bugs over populated there is not enough food for them. So they are now starving and we should porduce more food for the bugs in China so the bugs do not starve… but wait this sounds like welfare.
Report Post »starman70
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:25amDo you reckon that if Merkowski wind the Alaskan Senate race she can “Earmark” at least 100 Billion dollars to install automatic feeding stations and employ 10,000 Alaskans to maintain them?
Isn’t this how Congress works?
Report Post »untameable-kate
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 11:01amI can’t wait to start paying for that one!
Report Post »joseph Fawcett
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:48amEvidence of Global Warming!!! It must be, or Sarah is feeding them something to cause this, or the right and the tea party is the cause. Lets throw hundreds of billion of dollars that the crows and have each one have surgry! Quick they are printing more money we better tell them to print double the amount the crows are going to need therapy and all sorts of treatment!!
http://www.josephfawcettart.com western artist
Nvrforget
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:12amThat’s absurd, let’s spend hundreds of millions of dollars blowing up brown people instead.
See, it‘s funny because that’s what we’re actually wasting money on. Haha. Ha. Heh.
Report Post »untameable-kate
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:51amYeah we get it. We‘re racist because they’re brown, RIGHT? ….and we’re war mongers because 9/11 was an inside job, RIGHT?..crawl back to your hole troll.
Report Post »untameable-kate
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 11:40amHey NVRFORGET you should look at the funny video about the Afghan women setting themselves on fire, you should get a big kick out of it since you think we are wasting too much money there. You are a jerk.
Report Post »ron the veteran
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 12:15pmim a bird shrink. 250 bucks an hour. now tell me little bird whats wrong with your pecker?
Report Post »Nvrforget
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 2:54pmUntameable-Kate
1) Racists? Not necessarily. Imperialists? Yes. Besides, on this site alone I read several times that all Iraqis or Afghanis or Muslims should just collectively be killed. Take that as you will.
2) I‘m sure you’ll be able to quote me on where I said that 9/11 was an inside job. Oh wait, that didn’t happen! That we’re war mongers is pretty much a given, you should be unable to disprove that fact. We invaded two countries on flimsy pretenses at best. How is that not warmongering? None of those countries attacked us. Hint: Terrorism is not a declaration of war.
The Afghani women burning themselves is tragic and we‘re only making their situation worse because all the Afghans need now is another foreign occupation I’m sure.
Also, congratulations on missing my point completely. What I said was that those wars have been a ludicrous waste of money and continue to be. Had we spent that trillion dollars that we used to blow up innocent people on giving every crow a little surgery there would be a lot of birds with new, shiny beaks and a lot of families still with their fathers, sons, daughters and mothers, be they Afghani or American. A military invasion is not how you extinguish the fire of terrorism, it’s how you stoke the flames.
Report Post »HouseNegro
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:46amIt‘s in Alaska so it has to be Palin’s Fault. No futher wasteing of tax dolars needed to study this problem.
Report Post »halfbrain
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:53amit‘s big oil and Bush’s fault.
Report Post »HKS
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:04amNo, I think it‘s Obama’s fault, we inherited it. Their beaks were ok last year.
Report Post »plunderpower
Posted on November 10, 2010 at 1:54pmWhy aren’t all these evolutionists shouting, ” They’re evolving!!!” ? No, they’d rather use it to further promote their global environmental change agenda and blame every inconvenient thing they think they see.
Report Post »Knightofhopex
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:44amUh. Headline. “ Scientists Waste Time Noticing Things Already Happening ”
… This is your falling sky now, guys? Give me a break. :/
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {mix art}
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:51amHeadline news on MSNBC and CNN…
“Flash Warning: Bird Deformities being caused by Global Warming, President Bush Jr., and the hate filled rantings of the Tea Party opposed to the beloved and merciful dealings of our Great and Dear Leader Comrad Obama-san…”
These scientists and such have way too much time on their hands.
Beckofile
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 9:58amOh No….Just tell us what it will cost us?
Report Post »HKS
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:03amMaybe they are following the lead of the commies, sticking their beaks where it dosen’t belong.
Report Post »Nvrforget
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:03amScientists observe stuff and try to draw conclusions. That’s kinda what they do.
Also, where does anyone say anything that you could interpret as stirring up a panic? This is “Somehow a lot of Birds have beak deformities, we’re trying to figure out why“ and not ”Oh god oh god, Birds have beak deformities! This is the sign of the end times!”
Report Post »Knightofhopex
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:31am@NVRFORGET
… Dude, seriously. You missed the point. These people freak out about everything and report it like it’s a big deal when A) it’s already happening so B) it’s not a new thing. Small changes and issues like this don‘t need to be reported to us as some kind of new problem we’re going to have to deal with if something is causing it. The presumption is always that things like this are ‘man caused’. I’m just tired of the bullcrap in this community. You understand what I’m getting at now?
Report Post »wildjoker5
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:36amEvolution in action?
Report Post »docvet
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:42am@SNOWLEPARD3200
You forgot Sarah Palin, the oil pipeline and the gulf oil spill.
@Hks
Report Post »Gotcha! Probably started after Nov. 2008. Try balaming that on Bush. Obama has to be responsible for something besides borrowing $13 trillion.
KenInIL
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 10:42amHere is the probable cause:
Report Post »http://logisticsmonster.com/2010/10/27/what-in-the-world-are-they-spraying-full-movie/
It affects you to and our offspring. It’s just that we have longer between our generations. The “New World Order” is trying to thin us out and simultaneously gain control of all food production.
just me
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 11:36amIs this another ploy for Climate Change……
Have these scientists work on the disorder they have …“Progressivism””
Report Post »ron the veteran
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 12:08pmi think its time to cut off the government tit to these idiots. the bird seems to be doing just fine if it hurt it it would be dead by now. maybe its a new bird they didnt know about, the deformed beaked warberler. lives on a diet of chili peppers and flys backwards to keep his tailfeathers cool. whats next?
Report Post »ovrwlmd
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 1:38pmBillions of dollors spent on this type of research — paid for by tax payers. I remember reading an article about a research project almost 30 yrs ago — found that older people can see better while reading with the use of light. Wonder how much spending could be decreased if we cut out these types of ridiculas projects? Might want to cut out all research funding for awhile and let the private sectors/persons raise their own dollars to conduct their supposedly needed research.
Report Post »Stuck_in_CA
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 2:14pmHenry Waxman???
Report Post »oldoldtimer
Posted on November 9, 2010 at 3:46pmMight want to look at what they are eating. Like GMO corn, soybeans and wheat. What essential element is missing from their diet? From the food they are eating? Are we next to start experiencing deformaties like a thir arm or extra eye? No one really knows when dealing with GMO foods what they are getting other than the genes desired. GMO food have no long term effect studies. Every thing they say is pure speculation.
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