SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. — A concerning number of either dead or sick birds have been discovered in both Lee and Collier county.
The Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) said the majority of these birds being found are either gulls or terns.
SCCFsaid they are working with the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) who was sending some the birds to the University of Georgia to find a cause of death.
Executive Director for Crow, Allison Hussey told Fox 4 between Christmas and New Year, they saw almost two-dozen birds that were either sick or dead.
Hussey said one theory they have is the birds are being impacted by Red Tide.
“And recently in the past week, we were seeing less than half a dozen but still those brown and white pelicans that are coming in with Brevetoxicosis, Red Tide Poisoning we were luckily able to treat them and get them back into the wild,” she said.
On Friday, Hussey said the findings from the University of Georgia had not been released.
As for any concern for humans, Hussey said you should not handle any sick or dead animals.
Please report dead shorebirds to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission's Avian Mortality reporting site https://app.myfwc.com/FWRI/AvianMortality/.
Hussey says if an animal is injured, you should contact CROW at (239) 472-3644
or info@crowclinic.org.
If you have questions, please email shorebirds@sccf.org.
