2023 Midwest Avian Mortality Project 
After consultation with Andrew Farnsworth, Senior Research Associate in the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Matylda Lally and Tamima Itani have created an iNaturalist project to document bird deaths in Illinois and in the Midwest during the 2023 fall migration and are seeking participation.
The spring and summer of 2023 have been characterized by extensive and record-breaking wildfires in Canada. Over 15 million hectares have been burned as of the end of August, compared to a 10-yr average of 2.5 million hectares per season. The resulting smoke has created frequent and widespread hazardous air quality conditions in Canada and the United States.
This year’s conditions are likely to have a negative impact on migratory birds, from loss of habitat for nesting and raising young, reduced food sources and degraded environmental conditions. Our area is already experiencing one of its earliest fall migration seasons, with many species of birds documented weeks ahead of the typical start of their southbound journeys, possibly due to failed nesting and scarce food resources.
In the fall of 2020, a significant avian mortality event was observed in the US Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, and Nebraska), with hundreds of thousands of birds reported dead during migration. Death was due primarily to starvation, likely caused by extreme drought and wildfires conditions which reduced the availability of plants and insects to migrating birds, followed by unseasonably cold weather in early September, with early snow covering the ground, further reducing food sources and challenging emaciated birds.
eBird does not currently offer the systematic capability of capturing information on dead birds. After a discussion with Dr. Farnsworth, it was agreed to emulate an effort in 2020 to capture information on dead birds in the Southwest by creating an iNaturalist project. iNaturalist is a global online database of all living wild organisms, described as “an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature.” Much like eBird, it relies on people to report and document observations in the wild, but spans all living organisms, not just birds. It is available online at iNaturalist.org or via an app on smartphones and easy to use. One must have an account to submit observations.
Matylda Lally has created a project in iNaturalist entitled “2023 Midwest Avian Mortality Project”. Anyone with an account on iNaturalist can access the project and join it through this link or by typing the title in the search box. Individuals who encounter dead birds anywhere in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin are requested to take a photo of the dead bird and upload it to the project on iNaturalist, documenting date and location, and if known, the species of the bird. For example, in mid-August, a Great Blue Heron was found dead by the North Shore Channel in Evanston, of unknown causes. This occurrence of an unknown bird death is an example of what would belong in the project. If it is evident that the bird died from a window strike, please include this information in the comments field.
While everyone is encouraged to submit via iNaturalist, if you decide that you would like to participate but are not keen on signing up to iNaturalist, you can participate by emailing a photo of a dead bird, with precise location and date, to the following email address: midwestavianmortalityproject@gmail.com. If you need help with iNaturalist or the project, please use this email to let us know.
We thank you in advance for your participation in the project.