Picture a bird as it tries to feed its young—with a beak that is twice as long as normal. This horrifying sight has become an increasingly common sighting since scientists discovered this beak deformity occurring in landbirds throughout North America.
Over the past 20 years, scientists have been observing an increased occurrence of beak deformities in landbirds, specifically black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and other resident birds in Alaska. Dr. Colleen Handel, Research Wildlife Biologist and founder of the Landbird Ecology Program at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Science Center, was the first to discover and connect prior curiosity and observations to these emerging deformities.
“My friend and colleague Sandra Talbot who heads our genetics laboratory at the Alaska Science Center, told me about three black-capped chickadees with abnormally long and curved beaks that she’d observed coming to her feeders at her home in south Anchorage, Alaska,” says Handel.
Deformed Beaks: What We Know About An Alarming Bird Disease
Over the past 20 years, scientists have been observing an increased occurrence of beak deformities in landbirds, specifically black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and other resident birds in Alaska. Dr. Colleen Handel, Research Wildlife Biologist and founder of the Landbird Ecology Program at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Alaska Science Center, was the first to discover and connect prior curiosity and observations to these emerging deformities.
“My friend and colleague Sandra Talbot who heads our genetics laboratory at the Alaska Science Center, told me about three black-capped chickadees with abnormally long and curved beaks that she’d observed coming to her feeders at her home in south Anchorage, Alaska,” says Handel.
Deformed Beaks: What We Know About An Alarming Bird Disease