Bill Gallo Jr. reports for NJ.com: STOWE CREEK TWP–What caused the sudden deaths of scores of red-wing blackbirds last month remains a mystery, state officials say.
What caused the death of blackbirds in Stow Creek remains a mystery. (Wikipedia) Tests on the estimated 200 of birds found around Frank Davis Road in late November “are inconclusive,” said Larry Hajna, spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
Hajna said the DEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife reviewed necropsy and other test results, but the exact cause of the birds’ deaths could not be pinpointed.
“We cannot rule out some sort of pesticide poisoning because of the highly localized nature of the mortalities, but we have determined that if this were the case, the deaths were not caused by pesticides commonly known to be toxic to wildlife,” Hajna said on Friday.
He also said that the birds’ deaths were not likely caused by the compounds used to treat wheat seed planted in fields near where the dead birds were found.hat caused the sudden deaths of scores of red-wing blackbirds last month remains a mystery, state officials say.
“We also determined the deaths were not likely the result of infectious disease,” Hajna added.
The large number of dead birds were discovered on Nov. 22 in a rural area of the Cumberland County township. Their bodies were scattered across roadways and in fields and wooded areas.
It was the same area where 12 to 18 dead red-wing blackbirds were found two weeks earlier.
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