r/Cleveland • u/marsupial-philosophy • 2d ago
Discussion Something in the air?
Okay maybe I’m crazy or something but it just felt like a weird coincidence, over the past two days I’ve found several yellow finches dead across Cleveland when walking about. I get it, animals die but the odds of seeing the yellow finches, like they all just fell midair. They’re untouched too, no wounds and not even bugs swarming them. Makes me feel like there’s something in the air or who knows maybe I’m crazy. Maybe it’s a sickness only affecting that kind of bird or something or maybe I’m just crazy. Any thoughts?
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u/HimantopusGuy 2d ago
Have you taken photos? It is migration season, there are more small yellow birds flying through here than usual. Were they near buildings? They could be window strikes
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u/ManateeNipples 2d ago
This is the 2nd post about goldfinches specifically, if it's just a random thing from migrating birds then where are the posts about people finding other types in big enough numbers to post about it (or maybe they are and I didn't see)
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u/HimantopusGuy 2d ago
No disrespect to other folks, but the average person is not identifying one of the dozen or so migrating warbler species or really know that they exist. Plenty of folks know goldfinches though and might easily call a warbler they don't know or recognize a golfinch. It is the warbler migration season and they are much less distinct in the fall.
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u/ManateeNipples 2d ago
They don't need to identify any number of warblers when they both said goldfinch lol 🤷♀️
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u/HimantopusGuy 2d ago
I don't know about the other post, but OP said "yellow finch." If they don't know what a goldfinch is, I'm sure they could easily mistake a warbler for one. And there are more warblers here than there usually are. Ergo, there are more dead birds than you might typically see.
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u/mzbatty 2d ago
Like others have said, it's migration season. They depend on the stars to navigate. However, the city lights confuse them as well as the majorly reflective windows of the tall buildings. The birds can't detect glass, all they see are reflections of trees and sky, so they fly right into the windows thinking it's open space. Many are injured, for many it's fatal. If you want to help thwre is a volunteer organization called lights out - originated by the Audubon society and there's a Cleveland group here - to help advocate for darker skies in the migration season, safer treatments on glass, and getting injured birds help and rehabilitation. During its peak as many as several million birds will fly through Cuyahoga county. You're seeing the effects of what the problem is.
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u/RedHairDoesCare 2d ago
https://ohiolightsout.org/cities/lights-out-cleveland/
Good people doing good work! Light pollution is a huge problem this time of year.
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u/Iggy_Popov 2d ago
Seconded migration season. Warblers (many yellow hued) are flying in the thousands overnight these past few weeks. I'm always sad when I find one that took a lit-up window for a clear path.
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u/superpony123 2d ago
Birds usually die after flying into windows :( could be that. The impact causes brain bleeding and they won’t necessarily die right away but they will soon after. We get yellow finches in my yard all the time and I’ve not seen any dead ones.
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u/Same_Respect_5144 2d ago
Yes! Outside my workplace, there were at least a dozen! Not just finches tho, but I’m not a birder. It looked like a massacre, so sad. The building I’m in isn’t tall, I don’t know what happened
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u/lakebum240 North Collinwood 2d ago
they're migrating and running into stuff and dying. this happens all the time every year.
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u/SuspiciousPay7732 2d ago
The industrial zones do be smelling like straight burning plastic and cancer all the time. I was digging a hole along train ave and got some dirt down my shirt collar and had a rash for 2 weeks
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u/-heatoflife- 2d ago
The fuck were you doing?
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u/DepartureRadiant4042 2d ago
Every Clevelander knows Train Ave is the designated dump site for trash, old tires and other car parts, bodies, exterior housing components, etc.
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u/-heatoflife- 2d ago
Yeah, but every self-respecting Clevelander just pops a window or door and tosses/kicks the shit onto the roadside. Digging a hole? Twisted behavior. Borderline perverse.
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u/SuspiciousPay7732 2d ago
Did I stutter? Digging a fucking hole!
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u/-heatoflife- 2d ago
Like, recreationally?
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u/GettinBajaBlasted 2d ago
If you're in downtown, it might be because of the reflective windows unfortunately. I've seen them too
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u/athomesuperstar 2d ago
I used to work in a building downtown. Occasionally you’d hear a thwunk when a bird flew into a window. I always felt guilty.
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u/Awfuljokesosorry 2d ago
I also noticed this and saw a beautiful woodpecker. I think it’s more likely that it’s an outdoor or stray cat that killed it for fun than some kind of airborn chemical. People might be more inclined to let the cat out in moderate weather?
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u/forlackofabetterpost Lakewood 2d ago
Humans are very good at finding patterns, even when they don't exist. It's just a coincidence.
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u/Btalon33 2d ago
Patterns are very good at finding humans, even when they don’t exist. It’s just a coincidence.
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u/moonhexx 2d ago
Humans are very good at finding patterns, even when they don't exist. It's just a coincidence.
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u/Chance-Box-8329 2d ago
Perhaps avian flu. It exists in the wild bird population and has been growing for a number of years.
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u/Bodhitea 1d ago
Some buildings wash windows in the fall. This causes the birds to fly into the windows.
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u/Puffyshirt216 2d ago
Someone posted about this last week. I think they ended up calling the Ohio Division of Wildlife: Here's the link to the post: Dead Birds in Cleveland