<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Agreed, and I’ve thought about this. However the only way to have found it in corvids was to test them. I think the real question is if anyone is testing asymptomatic birds. I know the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center sent out a previously sick Blue Jay for testing and it came back positive. <div><br><div>I would have to think, with all the unknowns, that someone is testing asymtomatic birds, at least to help better understand which species/groups are carriers. It would be incredibly unresponsible to NOT test them when the resources are there. Makes one wonder though.<br><br><div dir="ltr">~Trisha</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On May 16, 2022, at 9:42 AM, Alan Stankevitz <alan@iwishicouldfly.com> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">Your points are well taken and I personally have not taken down my feeders but I am keeping a very keen eye on the health of our resident birds. So far, all is good. With that stated however, Laura Erickson posted on her blog a few weeks ago about the avian flu and the frustration of birds NOT being tested. You can easily say that there’s not been a case of a songbird testing positive because as far as I know, no one has been testing them. It’s a big unknown.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Here’s Laura’s post. Well worth the read:</div><div class=""><a href="https://blog.lauraerickson.com/2022/04/to-feed-or-not-to-feed.html" class="">https://blog.lauraerickson.com/2022/04/to-feed-or-not-to-feed.html</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Alan Stankevitz</div><div class="">Houston Co. MN</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On May 16, 2022, at 9:06 AM, Trisha * via Mnbird <<a href="mailto:mnbird@lists.mnbird.net" class="">mnbird@lists.mnbird.net</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div dir="auto" class="">Here’s my two cents:<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The only professional body that has made that recommendation is the Raptor Center, and their main concern is raptors. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and the DNR, all of which put resources towards all species of birds, have not made similar statements. <div class="">I’m surprised, and maybe I shouldn’t be, that the Raptor Center made a statement and all of the media stations went with it without exploring what others professionals had to say….and naturally, the public followed suit without doing any homework.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Granted, there’s still more to be learned about this strain. However I don’t think there’s been a case of a songbird testing positive.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">If someone lives near water and has fowl visiting their yard, or if they have backyard chickens, they should probably not be feeding seed or suet which can attract fowl and cause them to congregate, encouraging the spread of this disease. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Since corvids carry this disease, platform feeders and trays should likely also not be used. Removing my platforms and trays has greatly reduced the number of blue jays in my yard. I now have a single pair of jays that will not leave, but they are not visiting my feeders any longer.</div><div class=""><br class=""><div dir="ltr" class="">~Trisha</div><div dir="ltr" class=""><br class=""></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></div></blockquote></div></div></body></html>