Three Adult Blue Jays Within Four Days Falling From Trees And Dying?

[tatswell]

Has anyone ever heard of this? I was outside with my ducks when I saw a blue Jay fall out of a tree- I left it alone for an hour and checked back noticing it was still there so I threw some crumble over and checked back an hour later again. It moved but could not fly- seemed like it's legs were paralyzed but no obvious wounds. So put him gently in a cage and walked across the yard to put him under a tree where he suddenly seemed like he was having a seizure and died. I thought perhaps I gave him a heart attack until the next day when I saw the same thing with another jay! I left this one alone but checked back at the end of the day and it was dead. Today I saw something similar with another jay but it is gone so I am unsure what happened.

The only thing I was able to find (via Wikipedia) was that they are susceptible to West Nile. But that seems too far out to comprehend- also I live in southern new England.

 

[3riverschick]

Hi,
Yes, I have seen this before. We had a bunch of bats living in the soffit of our garage. one day I went out and one was chirping in the grass. Then another. Lost them all. We theorize the county had been insect spraying and the bats had eaten some of the insecticide.
Sorry for your loss.
Best Regards,
Karen in western PA, USA

 

[subhanalah]

You should contact the health department and have them necropsy the birds, for sure.

 

[tatswell]

I thought about calling the health dept. today but I think it is too late for a necropsy- the first one I buried, the second I left alone and I am unsure what happened to the third. I will call them Monday anyway just to bring it to their attention.
3rivers- That's strange. Did any other type of birds die? Were you certain it was insecticide?
Thanks

 

[ten chicks]

The first thing that comes to my mind is West Nile Virus,reason is although many birds can become infected with WNV blue jays and crows are the most likely to die from infection.