Hundreds of birds have been found dead at a lake in suburban Chicago. The discovery is considered to be the largest die-off in the entire state, and now there are concerns about the impact on the poultry industry.
Wildlife experts say this is extremely alarming. One local biologist says he has never seen anything like this in his four decades of working in Cook County. Over the course of one week, experts with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County discovered more than 200 dead double-crested cormorants at Baker’s Lake in Barrington. One wildlife biologist says the cause of this die-off is believed to be avian flu, and samples have been sent to the state and federal government to confirm that.
“It’s common to find one or two dead of anything anywhere,” said Chris Anchor, the forest preserve district’s wildlife biologist. “But when you start seeing a concentration, then you have to start investigating what’s going on.”
That’s exactly what Anchor and other staff members started doing on the evening of April 6, when they saw a number of dead birds in and around the spacious lake and man-made island rookery — a popular nesting and feeding spot for native and migratory birds, and bird-watchers hot spot.
The biologists sent seven dead double-crested cormorants to a laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and after necropsies, pathologists there determined there was reason to suspect an outbreak of avian flu at the lake.
“Everyone that’s looked at it is leaning this way,” Anchor said. The outbreak at the Barrington lake has affected only cormorants — a species of water birds known for their long necks and bills — and not perching birds like songbirds, sparrows, and finches.
