Theories range from bad weather to noisy filming, but no one knows why the hundreds of birds vanished from the island, leaving eggs and nests behind in the unexplained collapse of “one of the most prominent rookeries in the region,” writes Bruce Eggler of the Times-Picayune.
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IF the birds return to Bird Island (next year, whenever) there must be safeguards to assure a safe and isolated environment during nesting season. We who visit the area KNOW that there were movie scenes shot within 50 yards of the island in late March and April. We don’t need a question posed. If there are other reasons or contributing facts, those need to be addressed as well. Bottom line: if we’re going to have nice things, we need to take good care of them.
The very same phenomenon occurred at Lake Martin near Breaux Bridge on March 17, 2006. An estimated 2000 birds, that had already begun nesting and laying eggs, suddenly abandoned the aviary. Speculation as to the cause was along similar lines as the Audubon case (humans, drought, predators).The aviary has since rebounded.