Date: 7/2/26 9:42 am From: David Swinford via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] evening grosbeaks in urgent trouble on hwy 20
A quick solution might require some old fashioned conservation activism.
What if local birding clubs, dedicated to conservation and informing the
public got a few volunteers together to block the road? Not to stop
traffic but to establish something of an information checkpoint to stop
drivers briefly and inform them of the natural phenomenon occurring on the
road ahead so they are aware and can take appropriate action?
While you have your group of volunteers together, inform the local media,
DOT and State Patrol and/or local law enforcement and tell them what you
are going to do and why. If it's in the National Park, tell them too. I,
in my eternally naive state, believe the agencies would likely support it.
I visualize flashing lights on an emergency vehicle ahead of the
checkpoint manned by smiling bird club volunteers, appreciative drivers and
happy birds, if they experience such things. First responders and the
relevant agencies would love the feel good press they would get from
supporting efforts to mitigate wildlife slaughter. More durable solutions
might also follow.
My quick research found a post on June 23 on a large public Facebook group
with 167K members titled KOMO #SoNorthwest Photography. It's a place for
Northwest photographers to share their photography. The post featured some
beautiful photo's of North Cascades nature but noted the bird carnage on
SR20. Someone submitted a short video in response to that post showing
mixed flocks of Evening Grosbeaks and Cassin's Finches picking at gravel
alongside the road. There was another FB post by Nikita trying to raise
awareness on Facebook by posting a photo that was apparently too graphic
for Facebook and was blocked! If a photo of bird slaughter was too
graphic for Facebook, then maybe some real activism is needed.
.
On Wed, Jul 1, 2026 at 3:56 PM Scott Downes via Tweeters <
<tweeters...> wrote:
> I work for WDFW and regularly work with WSDOT on projects. To get a
> solution together it’s likely this needs to get to their regional biologist
> and to the WDFW district biologist to discuss solutions. Both road salt and
> grit (sand) can be an attractant but also used for road projects for
> safety. I’ll send those contacts to you tomorrow from my work email.
>
> Scott Downes
> <Downess...>
> Yakima Wa
>
> On Jun 30, 2026, at 7:45 PM, via Tweeters <tweeters...>
> 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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