Laura Erickson's For the Birds

As if we don’t all have enough bad news to deal with right now, bird flu is killing a lot of wild birds. The Chicago Bird Collision Monitors are getting reports of a huge number of sick or dead Red-breasted Mergansers on beaches, yards, parking lots, and sidewalks along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Those birds who haven’t succumbed yet have tremors and little ability to move. The Alliance is also hearing about other infected birds, especially hawks, owls, and eagles.

This ugly disease has an extremely high mortality rate for infected birds and no cure. Few if any rehab facilities can risk admitting wildlife that may be infected for fear of harming the birds already in their care—most must even refuse to euthanize sick birds.

Several agencies are strongly urging people to NOT pick up sick or dead wildlife, even though scavengers and pets may get sick and die if exposed to those carcasses. Unfortunately, in this anti-tax, anti-government era, no agencies or anyone else with expertise is being funded to collect and properly dispose of carcasses, much less to get them tested for bird flu. As outlined in the Preamble, our Constitution directs the government to “promote the general welfare.” That’s why, for so long, we led the world in our proactive response to disease outbreaks. Tragically, a government of the billionaires, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires has other priorities.

This strain of avian flu, also known as H5N1, is referred to as “highly pathogenic” because of how rapidly and lethally it affects birds, especially poultry. As of late January 2025, United States Department of Agriculture has documented cases in every state as well as the territory of Puerto Rico; cases among dairy cows have been reported in 16 states. About 67 human cases have been reported, most of them fairly mild but including one death. Infectious disease specialists are concerned about more crossover from animals to humans, and about mutations making the disease more lethal to humans—exactly the kind of situation for which we need the excellent and experienced long-time civil service employees at the Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, and Department of Agriculture, with those agencies researching and communicating with health care providers here and around the world so we can deal with this threat to our own health and food supplies along with the wildlife we treasure.

Like “House Finch conjunctivitis” or “House Finch Eye Disease,” this highly pathogenic strain of bird flu proliferates on overcrowded poultry farms, and breaks out of the confines of agriculture thanks both to disease-ridden runoff entering natural waterways and to the fact that wild birds don’t have any concept of property lines. Waterfowl, pigeons, starlings, blackbirds, House Sparrows, crows, and gulls spend a lot of time in agricultural fields, and infected birds are likely to wander off before they get sick. Hawks, owls, and mammalian predators have an easy time catching sick prey, and once birds grow too sick to escape, scavengers also enter the scene.

This outbreak is a definite reason to STOP feeding ducks and geese, period, and to close down bird feeders anywhere near where waterfowl gather. The main birds I’ve been feeding this winter are the usual local chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers—species highly unlikely to be exposed—and a sudden influx of Pine Siskins.

Two crows also visit one of my feeders for peanuts when I whistle. You’d think crows who spend almost the entire day right here in the neighborhood would be safe from bird flu, but they gather for the night in large roosts where they can be exposed to crows from other neighborhoods, including ones who spend time where ducks collect. Some may even scavenge on bird flu victims. Infected birds shed flu virus in their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces, so if a crow does get infected, it can easily infect others in those large roosts. I’ll stop setting out peanuts for mine if either shows any evidence of illness. And, of course, if I find or hear about any sick or dead songbirds that might have been infected with bird flu anywhere in my neighborhood, I’ll close down my feeders entirely for the season.

Come spring thaws, feeder birds, especially Pine Siskins and other finches who gather in large numbers, often get sick from botulism and other diseases as wasted seeds in feeders or on the ground start rotting. It’s always important to keep feeders clean, bird food fresh, and the ground beneath feeders raked, and this is especially critical when such a dangerous disease compounds the risk.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology updated their Avian Influenza Outbreak page with useful information for those of us who feed birds. The CDC’s Avian Influenza page appears to have been most recently updated in May. Yesterday, VCU Health in Virginia posted a news story with valuable information: “Is Bird Flu Something I Should Be Worried About?” These references are linked on my blog.