Following the recent recall of a type of Wild Birds Unlimited bird food due to possible salmonella contamination, there has been some talk on the Wisconsin Birding Network regarding feeder sanitation in general. Here are some of the tips that were posted.

10,000 hungry vultures are causing panic in the Pyrenees and Basque Country. They have been attacking live animals and have also been aggressive towards humans.

A report by the UK Dept. for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) exonerated wild birds as the cause of the 2006 outbreak of H5N1 in Suffolk.

In the 1950’s, the farthest north a Ringed Kingfisher was ever seen was Mexico. In the early 1970’s, a Ringed Kingfisher nest was discovered in south Texas.

“Hundreds of loons, grebes, mergansers, cormorants and other migrating birds have been killed in Lake Michigan recently, most likely from bacteria linked to non-native fish and mussels. Biologists at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore estimated this week that 2,600 dead birds have washed up on beaches during the past two months. It is the first large-scale bird die-off in Lake Michigan in decades.” Read the full story in the Star Tribune.

The Chicago Park District opened a bird hospital on the former Meigs Field in April. Last week, the hospital served more than 250 patients. Most injuries treated at the hospital involve birds crashing into buildings, and the number of injuries increases each year during the spring and fall migration periods. The central location is pivotal in saving birds which otherwise would have to be driven to suburban wildlife centers for rehabilitation. The survival rate for birds dropped off at the hospital is over 85 percent. Read more in the Chicago Tribune.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has banned most uses of the chemical pesticide carbofuran, which is produced by FMC Corporation under the brand name Furadan. The American Bird Conservancy notes that the chemical is responsible for millions of wild bird deaths since it was introduced in 1967. Read the full story Pesticide ban from EPA follows millions of bird deaths in the El Defensor Chieftain.

Hundreds of finches across Britain are dying from an outbreak of trichomoniasis, a parasite which causes the birds a painful death but is not harmful to humans. The disease is transmitted via water or saliva, as infected birds share bird feeders and baths with healthy birds. Garden hygiene can stop the spread and homeowners are asked to keep bird feeding areas clean and change the water supply regularly. Read more about the epidemic in Garden finches fall prey to deadly virus on the Times Online.

Earlier this week it was revealed that two young owls in the Rotterdam zoo died from the deadly bird flu strain H5N1. As the first zoo in the world to inoculate all of their birds against the flu, the news came as a surprise.

A swan found dead at a zoo in the German city of Dresden was carrying the H5N1 virus, it was revealed Friday. The zoo remains open though disinfection procedures have been stepped up. Read the full story German zoo finds H5N1 bird flu in dead swan at Reuters.