The Purple Martin Conservation Association reported mortality in purple martin colonies in three states, Kansas, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. At the Indiana site, there were two peaks of mortality. The adults were in good body condition with no significant lesions. Young birds were emaciated and were presumed to have died of dehydration and starvation following the death of their parents. Botulism type C toxin was confirmed in three birds, cholinesterase levels appeared normal, and there were no significant bacterial or viral isolations.
Additional tests are pending.
Trichmonas gallinae was isolated from esophageal lesions in house finches and a mourning dove collected from a residential area of Phoenix, Arizona and mourning doves from a larger mortality event in southwestern New Mexico. Trichomoniasis is common in doves but is rarely reported in house finches. In New Mexico, doves congregate at cattle watering tanks and drink overflow water from the ground. Doves were found sick or dead at roosting sites and near cattle watering tanks. Transmission of this parasite is usually associated with concentrations of birds in an area where ground feeding occurs.