Test results in on bird found dead in December; cases still rare in the Adirondack region
By Tim Rowland
A juvenile bald eagle found dead in Willsboro has tested positive for bird flu, and residents and officials along Lake Champlain are fearful other eagles may die because they have been spotted eating dead geese.
Kathryn Reinhardt found the eagle in December and immediately notified the Department of Environmental Conservation, which sent the bird to Albany for testing. She said she’d been notified Wednesday that it had died of avian influenza.
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Meanwhile, social media posters on What’s Happening in Westport, NY, published photos of dead geese on the ice at a Lake Champlain marina and said they had left a voicemail reporting the situation to the DEC.
Westport Supervisor Ike Tyler said he began to see dead geese along the lake when the ice broke, and has seen bald eagles feeding on the geese. “I called the DEC and they said ‘do what you want, we’re not going to come,’” Tyler said. “I think that’s a crying shame, and I’m going to try to get in touch with the (DEC) commissioner.”
Contact with infected birds is known to spread the disease.
“I’m very concerned,” Tyler said. “Birds are dying, and eagles are eating them, so they’re probably going to die too.”
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According to a DEC spokesman, “HPAI is widespread in wild birds and mammals, so not all reports will result in DEC retrieving the animals for testing and/or disposal. The public can help minimize risk and limit disease spread by preventing contact between domestic animals and wild birds.”
The reported number of birds confirmed to have died from bird flu is only a fraction of the total, since most escape public notice are never reported, the DEC said
When DEC field staff are not able to respond, citizens are asked to limit contact with dead wildlife and keep domestic animals away. If removal of carcasses is deemed necessary, the spokesman said the public should wear disposable gloves, a mask and eye protection, and avoid direct contact with the carcass by using a shovel and washing hands and clothing immediately after with soap and hot water. Carcasses should be triple bagged (garbage or contractor bags) and placed in an outdoor trash receptacle.
Related reading: Bird flu kills some of the North County’s biggest birds
In an email, the DEC said “It will likely take a couple of years of data to determine the effect of HPAI, if any, on the eagle population.” In 2010, New York had 173 breeding pairs of bald eagles which fledged 244 young. “Each year, New York’s bald eagles fledge about 10 percent more young eagles than the year before,” the spokesman said. “Hopes are high that bald eagles will continue to expand in New York and elsewhere, repopulating areas from which they have disappeared.”
Reached Wednesday afternoon, Reinhardt said she “was doing yard work, crossing the yard with my wheelbarrow and I noticed this large brown lump in the yard and went over to investigate. I just knew immediately I had to call someone.”
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The DEC advised her not to touch it without gloves, and cover it to keep predators away. “We covered it with a large, metal, scooped tray that’s used for mixing cement,” Reinhardt said. “It was heavy and covered it completely to keep the eagle away from our three cats or other evening critters.”
According to a USDA registry, highly pathogenic avian influenza is rare inside the Blue Line, or at least reported cases of it are. Four bald eagle deaths had been reported in Herkimer (two), Lewis and Franklin counties.
The DEC has urged those who find birds suspected to have succumbed to the pathogen to report the finding to a web-based database. The new link for reporting observations is located on DEC’s Animal Diseases webpage and was developed in collaboration with Cornell Wildlife Health Unit.
A number of species, including wild and farm animals, are susceptible to the disease, but in the bird community it has been found in raptors, waterfowl, crows and ravens, sporting birds and domestic chickens, ducks and geese.
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It does not appear to affect songbirds.
The Centers for Disease Control says the current public health risk is low. There have been 70 human cases since it was first detected in January 2022, and one death. There has been no known person-to-person spread of the disease to date.
Photo at top: Explorer file photo by Gerald Lynch
Keep up the great work
Crows and Ravens are–scientifically speaking–songbirds or perching birds. They’re more at risk than little birds because they eat carrion including dead geese and ducks.