Beak Deformities May Suggest Greater Environmental Problem, Study Says

Scientists have seen a spike in beak abnormalities in several species of wild bird populations in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, an epidemic that impairs the birds’ ability to feed and could suggest a wider environmental health problem. More than 2,100 northwestern crows captured in Alaska, Washington, and British Columbia — and numerous birds of other species — have been found to be afflicted with the “avian keratin disorder,” a disease that results in elongated, and sometimes crossed, beaks. While the cause of the outbreak is unknown, such deformities can be caused by environmental contaminants, nutritional deficiencies, or bacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic infections, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study published in The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology. The deformities are occurring at a rate ten times expected in wild bird populations, said Colleen Handel, a USGS biologist. “We have seen effects not only on the birds’ survival rates, but also on their ability to reproduce and raise young,” she said.