[Tweeters] evening grosbeaks in urgent trouble on hwy 20

[Ann Kramer via Tweeters]

I called the 509-309-8175  number above.They recommended emailing at
info at wawildlifefirst.org for a prompt reply and the automated message
suggested to contact WDFW for urgent issues.

WDFW  360-902-2200
I pressed #4 at their prompt to leave a message.

On Tue, Jun 30, 2026 at 9:07 PM Steve Hampton via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> Contact WDFW as well. (509) 309-8175 Email us: info at wawildlifefirst.org

>

> They may be able to work with Dept of Transportation for a solution.

>

>

>

>

> On Tue, Jun 30, 2026 at 8:36 PM Robert O'Brien via Tweeters <

> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>

>> Sounds terrible.  Other than contacting some authority who prefers not to

>> be contacted, I guess the best thing to do is to document it thoroughly in

>> hopes of future remediation..  I queried Chat GPT, which confirmed your

>> analysis.  Here is the response.  There were photos supporting what you

>> report,, which I've had to delete because Tweeters don't accept them.  Bob

>> OBrien  Portland

>>

>> ChatGPT response.

>>

>> Yes. In fact, as I read the message, several details immediately rang a

>> bell. This is *not a new phenomenon*, although it does appear to be

>> unusually severe in some years.

>>

>>

>> The key point is that the explanation given—*road salt attracting

>> Evening Grosbeaks*—is considered the leading explanation by many

>> ornithologists and transportation biologists. It isn't just internet

>> speculation.

>>

>> Several independent sources document this:

>>

>>    - Evening Grosbeaks, along with Pine Siskin, Red Crossbill, and other

>>    finches, are well known to congregate on salted roads where they pick up *salt

>>    and small gravel (grit)* needed for digestion.

>>    - Birds feeding on roads often become surprisingly reluctant to flush

>>    and can appear almost tame or lethargic, leading to heavy mortality from

>>    vehicles. Transportation researchers have even proposed studies to

>>    determine whether excessive sodium itself contributes to this behavior.

>>    - One documented case in British Columbia reported *at least 2,000

>>    Evening Grosbeaks killed along only 16 km of highway*.

>>

>> The interesting part is that *Kelly McAllister of the Washington State

>> Department of Transportation* actually proposed research on exactly this

>> issue over a decade ago. The proposal notes that finches are periodically

>> drawn to salted roads, where many are crushed by vehicles, and that

>> transportation agencies need better information to develop mitigation

>> strategies.

>> Why this year?

>>

>> That's the million-dollar question.

>>

>> Several things probably have to line up:

>>

>>    - A large local concentration of Evening Grosbeaks.

>>    - Late snow or limited natural mineral sources.

>>    - Fresh salt remaining on the pavement after winter.

>>    - Dry pavement that makes the salt easy to find.

>>    - The birds' seasonal need for grit and minerals.

>>

>> These "perfect storm" years may occur only occasionally, which explains

>> why someone could drive SR-20 for years without seeing anything like this.

>> Is road salt definitely the culprit?

>>

>> Probably—but with an important qualification.

>>

>> The birds are likely attracted to *both*:

>>

>>    - sodium salts, and

>>    - grit (small stones) that they swallow to grind seeds in the

>>    gizzard.

>>

>> Those two often occur together on mountain highways.

>> What can actually be done?

>>

>> Simply banning road salt isn't necessarily practical. SR-20 crosses high

>> mountain passes, and road salt can greatly reduce serious accidents.

>>

>> More realistic mitigation measures might include:

>>

>>    - sweeping residual salt and grit from shoulders after snow season,

>>    - using alternative de-icers where feasible,

>>    - identifying recurring "hot spots,"

>>    - temporary warning signs during peak mortality,

>>    - reduced speed limits through affected stretches,

>>    - research into whether different de-icing materials reduce bird

>>    attraction.

>>

>> Transportation biologists have been discussing these possibilities for

>> years, but there is still surprisingly little hard research.

>> One thing that caught my attention

>>

>> The writer says:

>>

>> "dead birds every few feet"

>>

>> If that is literally true over many miles, that represents *an

>> exceptionally large mortality event*, even by the standards of previous

>> reports. I would hope the state wildlife agency documents it.

>>

>> Given your birding background, I'd also be interested in one more

>> question: *Were they really all Evening Grosbeaks?* Large flocks of

>> finches can include Pine Siskin, Red Crossbill, and Cassin's Finch in

>> the Cascades. An actual survey of the carcasses would tell us whether one

>> species is disproportionately affected.

>>

>> This is exactly the sort of event that organizations such as the Washington

>> Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology would

>> likely want documented if it is occurring on the scale described.

>>

>>

>>

>> On Tue, Jun 30, 2026 at 7:45 PM via Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

>> wrote:

>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Hi Tweeters,

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> I drove to the north cascades on Saturday for a hike, and I saw an

>>> absolute horror.

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> *Something absolutely horrible is happening right now on the North

>>> Cascades highway (SR-20). Definitely hundreds, if not thousands of little

>>> birds are getting murdered. Right after the highway starts to climb up

>>> after the Diablo reservoir and reaches the sub-alpine areas until it goes

>>> back down after the Washington pass, these little birds are attracted to

>>> the road for some reason. Flocks of birds are sitting on the median line,

>>> rumble strips and sides. There are many birds and they are just getting

>>> plowed through by the car drivers. I have never seen something so horrible

>>> before. There are dead birds on the road every few feet. Literally. I have

>>> also never seen birds being so attracted to the roadway before either. I

>>> drove this stretch of the highway at 15mph for an hour and made several

>>> other drivers mad (their problem!), and I didn’t hit any birds, but it is

>>> just horrible carnage out there regardless.* *Looking online, I found

>>> out the birds are called evening grosbeaks and several people think that

>>> most likely birds are on the road because they are attracted to the road

>>> salt. If that is true, at least we can do something to save them. Why is

>>> WSDOT still using road salt? Who can we complain to ban road salt??? This

>>> is unacceptable.*

>>>

>>> *I see many other people reported the same situation online, looks like

>>> evening grosbeaks are getting killed by thousands since Hwy opened.*

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>    1. *I have already messaged WSDOT on their social media, but they

>>>    didn’t respond.*

>>>    2. *Is the guess even correct, and the birds are attracted to the

>>>    salt? If so, why I have not seen this problem in years past.*

>>>    3. *Most important: what can we do to help the birds?*

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> *Nikita*

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

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>>>

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>

>

> --

> ​Steve Hampton​

> Port Townsend, WA  (qatáy)

>

>

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