What is sickening and killing California's brown pelicans?
Hundreds of brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) have been found sick or dead off the coasts of California in the past month, the victims of a mysterious ailment that has scientists baffled.
When found alive, the birds appear hungry and disoriented. But necropsies performed on dead pelicans found that they had been eating, so the casualties don't appear to be from lack of prey. But their stomachs did contain unusual prey, like squid—not the sardines and anchovies they normally dine on.
Many of the pelicans also appear to have some sort of unidentified residue on their feathers, which may affect the feathers' insulating ability. "When we wash them, you can tell something is coming off. The water is discolored, like when you wash really dirty clothes," Jay Holcomb, director of the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) in Cordelia, Calif., told The Mercury News. "That's not normal."
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posted by NeillK @ 1:35 PM
