Dead Birds Washing Up on Florida Beaches

A dead bird featured in the St. Petersburg Audubon Society newsletter.

Dead birds have been washing up on Pinellas County beaches over the past few days. The number of carcasses varies – but it’s enough of a concern that the state wildlife agency is testing to find out how the birds died.

The cause is not yet known. Possible causes include recent bad storms or the West Nile virus.

But some wonder if it’s a side effect of the oil platform explosion and resulting oil spill.

The St. Petersburg Audubon Society sent out a newswire alert that hundreds of migratory song birds had washed up on Pinellas County’s shores. Conservation Committee Chairman Dave Kandz says his totals are a total of reports from people at different locations in Pass-a-Grille, Gulfport and Clearwater.

“People associate Audubon with birds so they tend to call us. But, we’re all volunteer. We all have jobs and work for a living work for a living so we’re not a 24 by 7 helpline,” he said.

He says if people spot dead birds they should contact the Florida Wildlife Commission. One of their biologists collected more than a dozen dead birds for necropsies, according to Carli Segelson with the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

“We did pick up several from Pass-a-Grille that were collected by a citizen, but we got a tip about carcasses in the Clearwater area and our biologist went out to scour the beach and collect those,” Segelson said.

What killed the birds won’t be known for a few days.