CAUTION URGED AS DEAD BIRDS WASH UP ON BEACHES

the thousands of dead birds washing up on beaches in recent days.

Authorities are urging caution for people attempting to help sick mutton birds that they may fnd on beaches because of the risk of avian fu.

Thousands of dead and dying birds have been discovered along Australia’s East Coast from South East Queensland down to Tasmania.

Mutton birds, or shorttailed shearwaters, are the most common of the shearwater genus and have begun returning to their nesting sites after their annual migration to the Northern Hemisphere.

They migrate annually, at the end of the breeding season, fying north along the western Pacifc Ocean to the Arctic.

They return southwards in the Australian spring through the centre of the ocean or west coast USA, a distance of approximately 15,000km one way.

Wildlife Health Australia says mass bird deaths, or “wrecks” of the migrating birds are not uncommon and suspect this is behind

But this year, with the threat of avian fu more prominent, authorities are urging caution.

The Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation last week warned people who found sick and dead birds on beaches to use caution and elevated hygiene procedures if handling them.

They acknowledged the deaths of birds at the end of their migration was common, but scientists had yet to run tests on the carcasses of the birds to determine the cause of death.

They said if people come into contact with birds exhibiting fu-like symptoms to seek urgent medical advice.

But Wildlife Health Australia said these mass mortalities were considered natural events, the by-product of a long migration, starvation and exhaustion, exacerbated by severe weather conditions.

But researchers were