Mysterious massive bird migration leaves popular bird location a dead zone

Birds left behind nests and empty eggs.

Thousands of birds have left the Seahorse Key abruptly, leaving their nests and eggs behind. The mysterious phenomena has left scientists and bird watchers puzzled, especially when they found that the place is negative from any contamination. Biologists explain that abandoning nests is nothing out of ordinary, except that it was a drastic mass migration.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Usually, Seahorse Key is full of thousands of little blue herons, roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets, pelicans and other chattering birds, but in May, it was left with silence and nothing in sight except for empty nests and broken egg shells.

The bird sanctuary in Florida used to host the largest bird colony in the area, but for an unknown reason, it was left by all of its different inhabitants. Scientists are looking for clues to determine why, believing there may be some aftereffects.

"It's not uncommon for birds to abandon nests. But, in this case, what's puzzling is that all of the species did it all at once," said University of Florida wildlife biologist Peter Frederick, who has been studying the birds in the state for almost three decades.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Vic Doig speculated that the birds could have just move into a nearby island, but they only saw a small fraction of the usual population of birds in the Seahorse Key, according to The Daily Mail.

With the clues they have, scientists present on the now abandoned bird island are trying to find answers, but they remain seemingly far from arriving to one.

After having the left behind bird carcasses tested, they were found to be negative from disease and contaminants. The number of raccoons caught and no owl sights also suggest the birds are not driven out by predators. Although there has been an increase in the number of surveillance planes and helicopters with disruptive noise over the area in the past years, Doig said it's a long shot to be the reason for the vacation.

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