[Mnbird] Bird Flu Spreaders

Thu Apr 14 14:21:59 CDT 2022

Depending on the timing it could have been WNV. Jays just literally drop dead from it - they, along with crows, have a very high mortality rating for WNV.

The "East Coast" virus/disease - whatever that pathogen was - that went killed so many birds last summer never made its way to Minnesota. To my knowledge no one ever pinpointed the cause of the deaths nor why it didn't continue spreading, but personally I'm just thankful it didn't.

We do not do testing at WRC on specimens or for things like HPAI, WNV, etc. We send our specimens and/or swabs/bloodwork to the UMN DLab. They are open to the public. Any time someone wants to know why their squirrels are dying (are they being poisoned is what we're often asked), or if you are finding deceased birds in your yard, you can always submit them at the DLab for testing.

They have information on how to do this, and the costs involved, on their website.

Hope that helps and I'm so sorry for the loss of your blue jays. On a personal note we lost several in our Afton yard to them last year as well when in other years of WNV we haven't.

Regards,

Tami Vogel

Communications Director

Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota

www.wrcmn.org<http://www.wrcmn.org>

www.facebook.com/WRCMN<http://www.facebook.com/WRCMN>

Twitter/IG    @WRCMN

________________________________
From: C.J. Kahle <cjk at umn.edu>
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2022 2:09 PM
To: Tami Vogel <tvogel at wrcmn.org>
Cc: Carol Cummins <carol.brookridge at gmail.com>; Pamela Brustman <gleskarider at gmail.com>; DONALD GRUSSING Owner <cdrussin at centurylink.net>; mnbird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net>
Subject: Re: [Mnbird] Bird Flu Spreaders

Sorry about interjecting in the middle here, but -

Question about the Blue Jays -
late fall, we had nearly 6 dead blue jays within a two week period. I called it in and never got a call back.
At the time, I heard Blue Jays (along with Starlings and something else) were dying due to eating the cicadas that had come out. It never made sense to me, and
I was disappointed to never have an answer. (we even kept them in the freezer if needed)

If this happens again, who is the best place to call (Is it the wildlife center?)

Thank you,
Carla K.

On Thu, Apr 14, 2022 at 2:01 PM Tami Vogel via Mnbird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net<mailto:mnbird at lists.mnbird.net>> wrote:
They've been saying that for a couple weeks now.

As of yet, we're not seeing it in songbirds, but we have sent in a swab from one this week. If that comes back positive then we'll update messaging and begin advising people to pull their bird feeders. There was a blue jay that tested positive in Canada and a crow here at the WRC, but we've not seen or heard any reports of blue jays (who use feeders) being sick. Since crows typically don't come to feeders, we're not advising people to pull feeders (same precaution as waterfowl though - if you have crows/waterfowl feeding under your feeders you'll want to make that  area inaccessible or pull the feeders).

If we start seeing sick blue jays, that message will change and we'll update everyone asap.

Regards,

Tami Vogel

Communications Director

Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota

www.wrcmn.org<http://www.wrcmn.org>

<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.facebook.com_WRCMN&d=DwMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=xXpC9befJRBVpnioMFpUIw&m=qdnuCP2ipOaA-OpoQsw4RPvjnKVvqSzxzlNICScJh_A&s=e0ot4W3dZiReNENWdTtMBXKCX6hxFLJfpHd5fRnSyRw&e=>www.facebook.com/WRCMN<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.facebook.com_WRCMN&d=DwQFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=xXpC9befJRBVpnioMFpUIw&m=qdnuCP2ipOaA-OpoQsw4RPvjnKVvqSzxzlNICScJh_A&s=e0ot4W3dZiReNENWdTtMBXKCX6hxFLJfpHd5fRnSyRw&e=>

Twitter/IG    @WRCMN

________________________________
From: Carol Cummins <carol.brookridge at gmail.com<mailto:carol.brookridge at gmail.com>>
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2022 1:52 PM
To: Tami Vogel <tvogel at wrcmn.org<mailto:tvogel at wrcmn.org>>
Cc: Pamela Brustman <gleskarider at gmail.com<mailto:gleskarider at gmail.com>>; DONALD GRUSSING Owner <cdrussin at centurylink.net<mailto:cdrussin at centurylink.net>>; mnbird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net<mailto:mnbird at lists.mnbird.net>>
Subject: Re: [Mnbird] Bird Flu Spreaders

I just read a post in the afternoon StarTribune email that the Raptor Center is now recommending that bird feeders be taken down. Is that true?

Carol Cummins
612-481-3430
carolcumminsmn at gmail.com<mailto:carolcumminsmn at gmail.com>

On Apr 14, 2022, at 1:13 PM, Tami Vogel via Mnbird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net<mailto:mnbird at lists.mnbird.net>> wrote:

Agreed - and there ARE so many unknowns about this outbreak of the virus. We're trying to gather as much information as we can to help us and other wildlife hospitals make informed decisions.

As of yet, we're not seeing it in songbirds, but we have sent in swabs from some this week. We will of course keep this list updated if we find it has jumped over to songbirds. I honestly don't want to even contemplate that right now.

I always love watching the migration through the listservs, too, Pam. A 2nd and 3rd fox sparrow showed up today at my house and are busily scratching with 70 or so juncos. We still have a large flock of pine siskins and a handful of redpolls. A dozen or so purple finches are mixed in as well. No pine warblers or yellow-rumpeds yet!

Your new property sounds so beautiful. How fun to totally switch habitats like that.

All my best,
Tami in Afton

________________________________
From: Pamela Brustman <gleskarider at gmail.com<mailto:gleskarider at gmail.com>>
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2022 12:11 PM
To: Tami Vogel <tvogel at wrcmn.org<mailto:tvogel at wrcmn.org>>
Cc: DONALD GRUSSING Owner <cdrussin at centurylink.net<mailto:cdrussin at centurylink.net>>; mnbird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net<mailto:mnbird at lists.mnbird.net>>
Subject: Re: [Mnbird] Bird Flu Spreaders

Tami- thank you for that information, it is a very helpful bit of information to further understand the entire story.
I regret my statement vis a vis this, but it IS very common for people to misinterpret singleton or few instances as pointing to a cause when not all data are in.

And, I forgot the part about tracking it, and should have remembered from last go round

Kingfishers!

Your posts are always informative and I look forward to hearing your sightings as they usually precede who arrives in my location by a week or so.
Or, they did when I was in Oak Grove. Now in St Michael on the Crow, that maybe isn't true.

Good birding !
- Pamela
Never give up on a dream just because of the length of time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway. - Unknown

“There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.”
― Aldo Leopold
I am one who cannot.

On Thu, Apr 14, 2022 at 10:35 AM Tami Vogel via Mnbird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net<mailto:mnbird at lists.mnbird.net>> wrote:
Those species are not, so far, shown to be susceptible to this recent outbreak of HPAI, which involves multiple strains. Nor were they the last time around.

We are taking swabs for testing of many species not currently listed in an effort to help wildlife hospitals across the nation get a better view of the virus' scope.

Through this, we've added several new species to the "susceptible list" in the past three weeks, including kingfishers. We're waiting on the required confirmation after a positive at the UMN VDL.

It is spreading through waterfowl and the susceptible species (list available at APHIS USDA). Since it is high path (the HP of HPAI), all you have to do is walk through duck/goose poop and you are spreading the virus. Once one bird gets the virus it spreads like wildfire.

I'm happy to answer any questions off channel. Just wanted to correct this misinformation.

Regards,

Tami Vogel
Communications and Development Director
Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota
www.wrcmn.org<http://www.wrcmn.org>

________________________________
From: Mnbird <mnbird-bounces at lists.mnbird.net<mailto:mnbird-bounces at lists.mnbird.net>> on behalf of DONALD GRUSSING Owner via Mnbird <mnbird at lists.mnbird.net<mailto:mnbird at lists.mnbird.net>>
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2022, 10:14 AM
To: mnbird
Subject: [Mnbird] Bird Flu Spreaders

Waterfowl are often cited in the media as the birds spreading the bird flu.  But I have never seen video of a mallard or a wild goose sauntering into a barn filled with thousands of turkeys or chickens. But I have seen house sparrows, starlings and common pigeons (rock doves) flying into the many openings on such buildings.  And virtually every farm yard has sizable populations of at least one of these species present. Poultry farmers would do well to try to control the local populations of these species.  Certainly they can get the disease from migrating waterfowl. But these common, unprotected by law, species must be major vectors in bird flu transmission.

Don Grussing
Minnetonka

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