There's always bowling..

For the sake of Pittsburghers, I hope something similar doesn't happen to cause a shortage in fireworks....

EL MONTE, CALIF. — Among the unsung victims of recent outbreaks of bird flu is the shuttlecock. Chinese geese have been slaughtered by the millions to prevent the spread of the disease, and that has left a shortage of the fine feathers used to make the badminton projectiles.

Only the thickest, heaviest goose feathers from northern China are used to make premium shuttlecocks and sometimes as few as two feathers per goose make the final cut.

But now, shuttlecock makers are having to settle for substandard feathers, and the sport's devotees in Southern California say the birdies they're buying just aren't the same.

"Everybody complains now, 'What's wrong with the shuttle?'" Dan Chien of El Monte said after a practice session at the San Gabriel Valley Badminton Club. "It was goose feather, but now it feels almost like duck."

The sport is popular among some Chinese immigrants in Southern California, and the region is home to many of the best players in the nation.

Prices have risen 25 percent in recent months, and top of the line shuttlecocks have been going for $25 a dozen as companies compete for limited feathers and players hoard the best birdies.

"If bird flu becomes pandemic, shuttlecock prices could become twofold or threefold higher," said Ahmad Bakar, director of shuttlecock seller Pacific Sports Private Ltd.

The deadly form of bird flu, known as H5N1, swept through poultry populations in parts of Asia beginning in 2003, then jumped to other regions. The World Health Organization says 232 human cases have been reported since 2003, and 134 of those people have died.