Bird flu prevention: Keep your feeder clean, experts say
- No major risk to birds that come to your feeder
- If sick, dead birds are present, take down feeder
- In all cases, experts recommend frequent feeder cleaning
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(NewsNation) — The 2-year old outbreak of bird flu has claimed lots of wild birds, especially migratory waterfowl like geese and mallard ducks. It’s also devastated domestic poultry — the chickens that end up on your dinner table.
But researchers say, so far, the risk to the birds that show up at your backyard feeder has been low. Songbirds and other feeder birds account for less than 2% of all reported cases of H5N1, the name for the current strain of bird flu in North America.
According to the website All About Birds, the big concern is that a rare individual songbird might infect a chicken, duck or other domestic poultry, leading to as much as 100% mortality to a flock. The site says it’s vital to keep songbirds away from poultry, but it’s less important to keep songbirds away from each other.
If you keep chickens in the backyard, the experts recommend taking down any wild bird feeders, and making sure there’s no water on your property that might attract songbirds and feeder birds.
If chickens are not an issue, the recommendation is to keep your bird feeder clean, or take it down if you notice sick birds nearby or there are reports of a bird flu outbreak in your region.
Also: Keep a safe distance when watching the birds at your feeder. And if you see a sick or dead bird, call your local wildlife conservation agency.
Birds suffering from avian flu have been found in Washington, D.C., and every state except Hawaii. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counts every county in the country where bird flu has been reported.
