Experts at the Minnesota Raptor Center say treating bird flu may become a new normal for them.
Dr. Dana Franzen-Klein, a veterinarian and medical director at the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center, says sick and injured owls, eagles and hawks from across the state are continuing to be checked-in at record numbers to their facility, and the virus has changed their intake process entirely.
"They are admitted into a bio-secure quarantine space," says Franzen-Klein. "What we have to do is we have lots of precautions in place. So we wear things like Tyvek suits or isolation gowns and respirators and gloves, and we routinely disinfect to make sure we are not accidentally spreading the virus if the bird is sick."
Franzen-Klein says since November, a more persistent strand of the virus has brought in even more sick birds, and that since the facility is a non-profit they are actively looking for donations to continue their work.
In Minnesota, a rising number of of great-horned owls, bald eagles and red-tailed hawks have been dying from the virus.
Franzen-Klein says despite the rise in cases some, their research shows some birds are actually beginning to adapt.
"And actually, what we're seeing is that we are admitting birds into our hospital that do have antibodies to high-path Avian Flu, especially our bald eagles," she explains. "Meaning they were exposed to the virus and they survived exposure. So that is giving us really helpful information about how our wild raptors are adapting to this outbreak."
While she's hopeful about where things are headed if infections in the wild don't slow down, Minnesota will continue to see a risk particularly for commercial poultry farms according to the Raptor Center.
Nationally, more than 170 species of North American wild birds – including ducks, geese, gulls, owls, eagles and others – have been infected with bird flu.
Take precautions around sick or dead wild birds, experts recommend. But you can keep your bird feeder up. Despite the spread in birds and other wild animals, scientists say the threat to the general population is currently low.
Which wild birds can get bird flu?
More than 12,000 individual birds have tested positive since the virus began spreading, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.
The count is a “gross underestimate” because most dead birds are never taken to a lab for testing, said Bryan Richards at the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in in Madison, Wisconsin.
Dabbling ducks, such as mallards and blue-winged teal, can carry the virus with few symptoms because “these viruses co-evolved in waterfowl,” said Richards. But ducks can also shed the virus in their feces or saliva, sometimes infecting other birds or mammals like foxes.
Birds without natural immunity that migrate or roost together in large flocks, such as geese, are most likely to die in large numbers. A recent bird flu outbreak among migratory eared grebes in Utah killed between 15,000 and 25,000 birds near Great Salt Lake, state wildlife officials said in early February.
Seabirds, which tend to roost in large numbers, are also highly impacted.
Songbirds such as Northern cardinals, blue jays or chickadees — the kind of birds that might visit bird feeders — can also become infected and die, but their populations appear to fare better since they don’t gather closely in large groups where the virus could spread, said Michael J. Parr, president of the American Bird Conservancy.
What are bird flu symptoms in wild birds?
Symptoms vary, but may include lack of coordination, inability to fly and respiratory distress.
“If people see a wild bird acting weird, the best thing they can do is call their local wildlife rehabilitator” and avoid handling it directly, said Franzen-Klein.
If you must handle an infected bird, it’s best to wear gloves and a mask as a precaution.
Is it safe to have a backyard bird feeder?
Experts say bird feeders are generally safe and aren’t a notable source of spreading bird flu.
But if you also keep backyard chickens, Parr of the American Bird Conservancy recommends taking the bird feeder down to prevent possible transmission to poultry. Birdfeeders and nesting boxes should also be cleaned regularly.
The risk of spread to people from bird feeders “is very, very low,” he said.
How is the bird flu outbreak affecting endangered bird species?
In the case of critically endangered California condors, scientists organized a vaccination program after some birds became infected. But that’s not a realistic option for most wild bird species.
Instead, experts recommend giving wild birds the best chance by taking other steps to protect habitats and reduce various risks that species face, such as exposure to pesticides or lead ammo.
Bald eagles, which are federally protected but no longer endangered, are scavengers that will eat dead animals. “That first year, we lost a lot of eagles” likely from bald eagles eating infected ducks or bringing them to their nests, said Richards.
Scientists also documented an unusually high number of eagle chicks that didn’t survive into adulthood during the first breeding season after the virus appeared in North America, likely because the chicks got the virus or sick parents weren’t able to adequately feed and care for them.
But over time, the number of confirmed infections in eagles nationwide has declined from 427 in 2022 to 48 last year.
That may mean that eagles that survived the first year now have some acquired immunity, said Franzen-Klein. This past migration season, researchers counted a record number of bald eagles migrating through northern Minnesota.
“There are good signs of hope” that eagles in the region are rebounding, she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.