Amid Lehigh Valley’s bird flu outbreak, is it safe to keep a backyard bird feeder?

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — When a resident starts feeding birds, especially during winter, those birds can become dependent, Susan Gallagher said.

“Once they start showing up, and once they realize there's a food source there, that's where they'll hang out for the winter, and that's where they'll stay,” said Gallagher, chief naturalist for Carbon County Environmental Education Center.

“And so, if that food source then disappears, they're stuck without something in the hardest part of winter."

Bird flu has landed in the Lehigh Valley, infecting thousands of wild and domestic birds last month, and prompting local health networks to prepare for potential human cases.

While experts and officials have underscored the importance of steering clear of sick or dead birds, they are not recommending residents pull their bird feeders unless they also have domestic birds, or live near or on a farm.

“That's not to say they can't find some wild foods out there — they certainly can, but when you have this much snow cover for this long and it's been so especially cold," Gallagher said.

"Birds have this super high metabolism where they have to eat all the time. So pulling the bird feeders this time of year — it can be really bad for them.”

Keeping feeders sanitary

Even though songbirds are generally considered low risk for contracting avian flu, there are measures residents can take to keep their feeders clean and sanitary.

That's a regular practice that should be increased during local outbreaks, wildlife experts said.

“There are diseases other than avian influenza that birds can pick up when they congregate at these feeders,” Gallagher said.

“So you're not just cleaning for avian influenza, you're cleaning for things like conjunctivitis that house finches and other finches can get and they can transmit to each other, just like people.

“When you're all in the same room, close together, if one person is sick, then everybody can get sick.

"You're bringing all the birds together. It's best to keep things clean, just so that they're not spreading these pathogens among themselves.”

‘Few dead birds’

An influenza type A virus, bird flu is highly contagious and often fatal in birds.

It’s also called HPAI, or highly pathogenic avian influenza, and commonly referred to as bird flu or H5N1.

Bird flu can be easily spread from bird-to-bird in some species through direct contact with an infected animal’s mucous membrane, feces and/or blood.

The virus, which hit the United States in 2022, has jumped from birds to dairy cows, as well as other mammals.

The country last month saw its first human death from bird flu, but health officials maintain the current risk to people is low.

There have been no reported bird flu infections in dairy cows or people in Pennsylvania.

Since early January, thousands of wild and domestic birds in the Valley have been reported infected, including 5,000 migratory snow geese in Nazareth and Upper Macungie townships and a 50,000-bird egg-laying chicken flock on a commercial farm in Lehigh County.

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WLVR

Asked for an update on infected snow geese, state Game Commission Communications Director Travis Lau said, “There have been a few dead birds removed from the Northampton County site since the cleanup."

“Because we had detected HPAI here previously, though, we typically don’t test additional samples for HPAI, unless they are species in which we haven’t documented HPAI yet.”

But the snow geese aren’t done migrating yet — and that could mean more chances for infection, officials said.

“Typically, in the last probably decade, they're out of here for the most part by the second week in March,” said Peter G. Saenger, endowed research ornithologist and collection manager in the bird museum at The Acopian Center for Ornithology at Muhlenberg College.

“We've got about a month. They move north as the snow melts … They need open areas to feed so they won't move until those areas are open.

"So if we have an extended winter, they're going to be here longer. We have an early spring, they'll be out of here sooner.”

‘Most of us do not have to worry’

Each spring, tens of thousands of migratory snow geese make their way through Pennsylvania, heading north to colder climates to breed, and reversing the trip each fall.

They tend to gather in large, concentrated flocks, increasing the amount of pathogens that they're exposed to.

In addition to the Valley, they’re often spotted at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Lancaster County, drawing thousands of visitors and bird enthusiasts.

However, because of bird flu outbreaks, certain areas now are closed to the public.

Residents in the flight path of the geese might consider pulling their feeders, said Saenger, who also serves as president of the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society.

“If you're using the basic backyard bird feeders, I would not worry at all,” he said.

“If I lived in Nazareth, in the flight path of the snow geese leaving the quarry and going out to feed, I might consider pulling my feeders, because if they defecate flying over, you could actually have it in your backyard, even though the geese aren't there.

“But that's such a small minority, most of us do not have to worry about it.”

Cleaning

While snow geese, as well as other bird species, have proven to be more susceptible to bird flu, the virus doesn’t seem to affect songbirds the same way.

“There has been widespread transmission of avian flu to wild bird species including waterfowl and raptors,” according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

“The virus has also been found in mammals that prey on dead birds.

“However, transmission to songbirds and other typical feeder visitors has been low [about 3% of all cases reported in wild birds], although this may change with increased testing or changes to the virus.”

There are other diseases for which residents should look out. If they see a sick bird, the feeders should be pulled, Saenger said.

“When you have that happen, you should pull your feeders, clean them thoroughly and wait a couple days until that bird’s gone,” he said.

“Because they don't live that long, and then make sure there are no other sick birds before you put your feeders out.”

Local officials, wildlife experts and researchers all assert the risk of bird flu outbreaks among wild songbirds is low, while urging residents to keep feeders clean.

“Cleaning them more often is absolutely a good idea,” Gallagher said. “We have always recommended once a week with a 10-percent bleach solution — one part bleach to nine parts water.

"To scrub them, get any kind of fecal matter off of them, because you can't really disinfect something unless you clean the poop off first.

“It's not a matter of just spraying them or wiping them or whatever. You've really got to get all the organic matter off before disinfecting.

"Once a week has always been recommended. Twice a week during the outbreak is probably not a bad idea.”

Good quality seed, minimal waste

Wearing gloves always is recommended when cleaning a feeder, as is thorough hand-washing afterward.

In addition to keeping feeders clean, it’s important to use a good quality seed, Gallagher said.

“If you ever watch birds at a bird feeder, sometimes you'll see them, they're kind of picking through for what they want,” she said.

“And then they'll just kind of scrape other things to the side and leave it on the ground.

“This is when you might attract things like crows or even people who have rodent problems, rats and mice and things. They're eating all that, all that discarded seed on the ground.

"So you can avoid all that if you use a good quality seed, where the birds are going to eat it and eat it all and not leave all that waste behind to attract other things.”

Usually, birds have more expensive tastes, she said. Cheaper mixes often include filler seeds that end up on the ground.

“And then when you have the seed on the ground, did you have the droppings on the ground?” she said.

“Then you have more of a recipe for pathogens to persist and maybe to spread among the visitors. So using a good quality seed and minimizing waste is a really good way to combat that.”