"Geese had suffered this year, she noted, because the winter was so brutal. 'This was supposed to be their oasis, and everything was frozen for weeks,' she said. 'They were all probably smooshed together in whatever thawed areas they could find, with barely any resources.'"
"'Cars, pesticides, lead,' Mulcahy said. 'Have we ever gotten a swan that didn't have lead poisoning?'"
"DNA testing some years ago revealed that the center had been wrong about the sexes of many of its residents. Vlad, a turkey vulture who'd been hit by a train, was, in fact, female."
The progression of a goose die-off was tracked from February to March, with hopes for recovery as warmer weather approaches. A rescue center in Hampton Bays treated numerous birds, noting harsh winter conditions contributed to their suffering. An ornithologist suggested the population would rebound, but threats like cars and lead poisoning persist. The center also houses education animals, including a screech owl and a turkey vulture, which faced challenges in rehabilitation and release due to various injuries and misidentified sexes.
Read at The New Yorker
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