West Nile Virus


Are there greater threats?



The scarlet tanager & indigo bunting have been viewed in the N. Tonawanda Audubon Nature Preserve



West Nile Virus

by Paul Fehringer, Naturalist-- Buffalo Audubon Society

It seems that every time you turn on the television or radio these days you are hit with news of the West Nile Virus (WNV). The spread of the virus into Western New York has caused a bit of a scare in people. Is this really a cause for alarm? Or are we just frightened of the unknown?

Most news stories that I have heard report the increase in deaths of birds, people, or other species. They give bits and pieces of information about how to prevent contact with mosquitoes, but never tell much else about the virus which keeps us suspicious about its deadliness.

The truth is, if you are a healthy individual, you have little to worry about. West Nile Virus is primarily transmitted through a mosquito bite. WNV can not be transmitted between people or from birds to people. It is always a good practice to wear protective gloves when handling any type of wildlife-- dead or alive, but there is no concern of WNV transmission from handling these animals.

As far as the mosquitoes go, there is little to worry about with them as most mosquitoes do not carry the virus. It is a small percentage that do carry WNV. Even if you are bitten by an infected mosquito, most people that get WNV don�t even realize that they have it because their immune systems are strong enough to fight it off with little or no symptoms ever surfacing. Only in a few rare instances can the virus be harmful or fatal to people. If you exhibit symptoms of the flu, seek medical advice immediately.

Although WNV has been found in many different species of animals, it seems to be prevalent in birds. Crows and blue jays were hit the hardest when WNV first appeared in the US, but it has spread to many other species of birds. It has even appeared in domestic parrots and macaws. WNV has been diagnosed in more than 110 different bird species including raptors.

If you do have a lowered immune system, please take precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, however, but don�t let the media scare you completely indoors. Cover up and use insect repellent when you are heading outdoors in the evening or whenever mosquitoes are likely to be present.

Remove standing water such as that found in unused swimming pools and discarded tires. Use the appropriate methods of prevention and enjoy the outdoors this summer.


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Toxins bigger threat than West Nile

Disease study reveals birds die more from pesticides, herbicides, lead
(Published on the front page of the Tonawanda News on June 3, 2001)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS� -� DELMAR, NY�- In the fever to test for the West Nile Virus, post-mortems on up to 250 birds a day have uncovered a surprise: More birds are dying of pesticides, herbicides and lead.

"There are all kinds of side benefits to the West Nile look," said state wildlife pathologist Ward Stone. "West Nile isn't going to be growing in numbers, but these other numbers will continue to grow."

In the state fiscal year ending March 31, the basement laboratory in the Five Rivers Environmental Center outside Albany identified 1,263 birds carrying West Nile Virus.

During the same time, 1,953 birds were identified as dying of toxins from pesticides like Dursban, a chemical banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Diazinon, which the EPA ordered to be taken off the market in two years. Lead poisoning is often from the birds eating prey that ingested fishing sinkers or carrion killed by lead shot or pellets.

Stone said some are cases in which chemicals were overused on lawns and in buildings, some are intentional poisonings, but many are the result of birds eating smaller prey with high levels of the material.

NOTE: The following was omitted from The Buffalo News version of this same article:

"I was rocked," said Audubon New York's William Cooke of Stone's findings "I had no idea. I don't think anyone did."

Audubon New York with 52,000 members, plans radio public service announcements and a public education program this summer as a result of the data. Cooke urges people to continue to report all dead birds through a toll-free state number (866-537-2473) to keep tracking West Nile incidents as well as deaths from toxins.

"If they're whacking birds, I think it's reasonable to assume they're doing a job on butterflies and others," Cooke said "What is it doing to our kids?"

West Nile testing also led to the May determination that a blue jay found dead on a North Hempstead lawn on Long Island died from poisoning by Chlordane, a pesticide used against termites and lawn insects. West Nile testing also identified a new form of botulism that killed hundred of birds from Lake Erie.


COOPER'S HAWK - likes to dine on songbirds at backyard birdfeeders surrounding Klydel....


BIRDS OBSERVED IN THE NORTH TONAWANDA AUDUBON NATURE PRESERVE
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There are over 100 species of birds recorded in the wetland, some of them are the following:� great blue heron, green heron, mallard, Cooper's hawk, Northern goshawk, red-tailed hawk, sharp shinned hawk, Northern harrier, turkey vulture, spotted sandpiper, solitary sandpiper, common snipe, American woodcock, ring-necked pheasant, wild turkey, yellow-billed cuckoo, eastern screech owl, great horned owl, ruby throated hummingbird, yellow bellied sapsucker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, eastern wood pewee, least flycatcher, eastern phoebe, great crested flycatcher, eastern kingbird, white breasted nuthatch, brown creeper, Carolina wren, house wren, winter wren, golden crested kinglet, ruby crested kinglet, blue-gray gnatcatcher, veery, swainson's thrush, hermit thrush, wood thrush, gray catbird, brown thrasher, cedar waxwing, solitary vireo, yellow-throated vireo, red-eyed vireo, Tennessee warbler, Nashville warbler, Northern parula, yellow warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, magnolia warbler, bl. throated blue warbler, yellow rumped warbler, bl. throated�green warbler, blackburnian warbler, palm warbler, bay-breasted warbler, black and white warbler, American redstart, ovenbird, northern waterthrush, common yellowthroat,�Canada warbler,�scarlet tanager, rose breasted grosbeak, indigo bunting, Northern oriole, bullock's oriole,�pine siskin, common flicker, killdeer, and the swamp sparrow.


SCREECH OWL




A Great Blue Heron going into the Klydel Wetland


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