Scientists are puzzled over abandoned birds nest and eggs, the sudden disappearance of the Thousands of Birds on Florida Island.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Vic Doig said what was once the largest bird colony on the state’s Gulf Coast is now a “dead zone.”
Seahorse Key has been a protected way station for myriad bird species as a part of the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1929 as a sanctuary for birds.
In May, Thousands of little blue herons, roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets, pelicans and other chattering birds were gone.
The Birds’ Nests sat empty in trees while eggs were broken and scattered on the muddy ground, according to reports.
Peter Frederick, a wildlife biologist in the University of Florida who has studied Florida’s birds for nearly 30 years stated that
“It’s not uncommon for these birds nests and eggs abandoned, but, in this case, what’s puzzling is that all of the species did it all at once.”
Doig said that some of the Seahorse birds seem to have moved to a nearby island, but they’re just a fraction of the tens of thousands of birds that would normally be nesting on the key right now.
Some of the Seahorse birds seem to have moved to a nearby island, but they’re just a fraction of the tens of thousands of birds that would normally be nesting on the key right now, Doig added.
Mike O’Dell runs tours out of the little marina in nearby Cedar Key said, on a Tuesday in May he led a group out to view thousands of birds crowding the shores of the key, but on Wednesday,
“there was nothing. It’s just that drastic, There were none. It’s like a different world.” according to O’Dell.
Biologist also don’t know how the birds’ disappearance will affect other animals that lives on the Island because food chain is disrupted. Image Source
