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Originally published on April 20, 2022. Updated on July 14, 2022.
Many people are worried about the 2022 outbreak of avian influenza, or bird flu, affecting domestic poultry, waterfowl, raptors, and some shorebirds in the U.S. and Canada. Because the current strain (H5N1) causes severe losses in poultry, it is referred to as highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI. Note that transmission of avian influenza from birds to humans is very rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Since July 14, one person has positive for avian influenza and had mild symptoms, in Colorado.
There has been confusion about whether people should remove their feeders to prevent the spread of this disease to wild birds. We checked with Dr. Julianna Lenoch, who manages USDA APHIS National Wildlife Disease Programand we have compiled the following summary of key points about HPAI, particularly with songbirds and other feeder visitors.
Low Risk of Avian Flu in Songbirds
There are currently very low risk of having an outbreak in wild songbirdsat there is no official recommendation to remove feeders unless you also keep domestic poultry, according to the National Wildlife Disease Program. We always recommend that you regularly clean bird feeders and bird baths as a way to prevent many types of disease.
We also always recommend that you follow any recommendations released by your state government, such as recent request to remove feeders in Illinois. We will update this page as the situation progresses.
How do we know that songbirds are at low risk?
- USDA APHIS has a strong, multiyear surveillance program that regularly samples wild birds, including flocks of songbirds (and other species such as Rock Pigeons and Mourning Doves that are often around humans) , for the presence of avian influenza. So far in 2022, they have detected the HPAI strain in 1,826 wild birds, with 41 detections in songbirds (see below for a list of species). Latest information about the outbreak.
- Avian influenza does not equally affect all bird species. The “highly pathogenic” part of the term HPAI specifically refers to the severity of disease in poultry, not necessarily in other bird species. For example, waterfowl often carry and transmit bird flu, but rarely get sick from the disease (even from HPAI strains). Raptors are more sensitive to disease than waterfowl. Domestic chickens are highly susceptible to HPAI and easily spread the disease, leading to up to 100% mortality of affected flocks.
- Songbirds are less likely to get avian influenza compared to waterfowl and are more likely to release many viruses, meaning they are less likely to transmit the disease. (See Shriner and Root 2020 for a detailed review of the journal Viruses.)
- According to a separate study on Journal of Wildlife Diseases“… Although passerines and terrestrial wild birds may play a limited role in the epidemiology of IAV [avian influenza A viruses] when associated with infected domestic poultry or other aberrant hosts, there is no evidence to support their involvement as natural reservoirs for IAV. ” (Slusher et al. 2014)
- For these reasons, it is likely that bird feeders will contribute to an outbreak of singing birds.
If songbirds are at low risk, why are poultry keepers advised to remove their bird feeders?
- The main concern with songbirds is the chance that a rare individual could transmit the infection to chickens. This is a concern because chickens are more vulnerable than songbirds to HPAI.
- The main intervention was to keep the songbirds away from the chickens; it is less important to keep the songbirds away from each other.
- If you have a flock of chickens in the backyard, here are the most important steps to take:
(click for full information on these biosecurity measures from USDA APHIS) - As a second measure, USDA APHIS recommends for poultry owners to remove wild bird feeders or keep them away from their captive flock.
If you keep nest boxes:
Avian influenza is rarely transmitted only to humans, according to the USDA, but nonetheless, our NestWatch project always advises good hygiene and strongly recommends that people wear disposable gloves and/or wash their hand thoroughly after checking the nest boxes. Most birds that use nest boxes are songbirds, which have a low risk of contracting avian influenza. If you monitor waterfowl or raptor nests (e.g., Wood Duck, Common Merganser, Canada Goose, American Kestrel, Barred Owl), we suggest you wear gloves, change or wash gloves and disinfect equipment between nests. boxes, wear a mask when cleaning nest boxes, and change clothing and footwear before visiting any pet poultry.
If you are a wildlife rehabilitator:
Wildlife rehabilitators should be careful when receiving sick birds so that they do not accidentally introduce HPAI to their other patients. eto additional guidance for rehabbers, from USDA APHIS. Rehabbers in New York State are also encouraged to contact the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab for more information.
What to do if you see a sick or dead bird:
Avoid handling sick or dead birds. Instead, call your state wildlife health agency; they can determine the cause of death and send the bird to the appropriate lab for examination. Additionally, keep pets (including pet birds) away from sick or dead wild birds.
Additional Resources:
Wild bird species with HPAI detection in 2022
Updated July 14, 2022. Total number of wild bird discoveries: 1,826. Look 2022 Detections of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Wild Birds for the latest discoveries.
Songbirds
American Crow (19, North Dakota; 1, Michigan; 2, Minnesota; 1, Washington; 6, Wisconsin)
American Robin (1, North Dakota)
Black-billed Magpie (3, Wyoming)
Common Grackle (1, Montana)
Common Raven (1, Alaska; 1, Minnesota; 1, Washington; 1, Wisconsin)
Dark Eyed Junco (1, Minnesota)
Fish Crow (1, New York)
Red-winged Blackbird (1, Michigan)
Non-Songbirds
American Black Duck
American Kestrel
American White Pelican
American Wigeon
Bald Eagle
Barred Owl
Black Vulture
Blue-winged Teal
Brant
Wide -winged Hawk
Brown Pelican
Canada Goose
Caspian Tern
Common Goldeneye
Cooper’s Hawk
Common Loon
Common Tern
Cormorant sp.
Junco’s eyes were dark
Double-crested Cormorant
Duck sp.
Dunlin
Eared Grebe
Gadwall
Glaucous Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Great Horned Owl
Greater White-fronted Goose
Green-winged Teal
Gold sp.
Hawk sp.
Harris’s Hawk
Heron sp.
Herring Gull
Hooded Merganser
Grebe horned
Laughing Gull
Lesser Scaup
Mallard
Merganser sp.
Muscovy Duck
Mute Swan
Neotropic Cormorant
Northern Harrier
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Kuwago sp.
Peregrine Falcon
Pheasant sp.
Redhead
Red neck Grebe
Red shoulder Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Ring-billed Gull
Duck with neck ring
Ross’s Goose
Hawk’s foot is rough
Royal Tern
Ruddy Duck
Sabine’s Gull
Sanderling
Sandhill Crane
Hawk’s sparkle was sharp
Short-billed Gull
Snow Goose
Snowy Egret
Snowy Owl
Swainson’s Hawk
Trumpet Swan
Tundra Swan
Turkey vulture
Western Screech-Owl
Wild Turkey
Wood Duck
Wood Stork
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