Dead Waterfowl around Bighorn River

[el_jefe_pescado]

https://www.montanaoutdoor.com/2025/02/dead-waterfowl-reported-on-bighorn-river/#

Sounds like a bunch of dead birds are popping up around the Big Horn. Anyone have more intel? Or know about the implications of potential bird flu in waterfowl populations?


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[WCB]

Be interesting to see how bad it is this year. I know 4years or so ago we literally saw thousands of Snow Geese dead in ND while hunting in the spring.

 

[KurtR]

Thing about this is it happens every year. Especially with the huge gathering of snow geese. I remember 20 years ago a huge die off around watertown sd growing up. The news has just found out about it and with the covid thing every one is hyper sensitive to the next pandemic. They need to find a better way to handle it in domestic birds than just kill them all.

 

[ODB]

I hunted snow geese in Idaho last weekend and the guide said they picked up like 400 dead birds a few weeks prior. We saw no ill birds when we were there (that I noticed) Guy said that birds with the flu stop flying and it’s quite obvious. True enough?

 

[KurtR]

I hunted snow geese in Idaho last weekend and the guide said they picked up like 400 dead birds a few weeks prior. We saw no ill birds when we were there (that I noticed) Guy said that birds with the flu stop flying and it’s quite obvious. True enough?

Ya you can pick them out real easy. They look drunk how they wobble around when they are sick. Some will just fall out of the air and hit the ground. Two springs ago i was out side with my dog for lunch in the spring as the geese were migrating over my house on a blue bird day they were way up there. Out of no where this goose just drops out of the sky and landed two hundred yards or so from us. Dog marked it i sent him and fired that thing in a bag and then the dumpster. Talk about a perfect little impromptu training.

I wonder if eagles are not affected by it i watched them the last real bad year eat the hell out of dead birds but never saw any dead eagles.

 

[ODB]

Ya you can pick them out real easy. They look drunk how they wobble around when they are sick. Some will just fall out of the air and hit the ground. Two springs ago i was out side with my dog for lunch in the spring as the geese were migrating over my house on a blue bird day they were way up there. Out of no where this goose just drops out of the sky and landed two hundred yards or so from us. Dog marked it i sent him and fired that thing in a bag and then the dumpster. Talk about a perfect little impromptu training.

I wonder if eagles are not affected by it i watched them the last real bad year eat the hell out of dead birds but never saw any dead eagles.

Exactly what the guide said. They would stumble around and look completely plastered.

As an aside watching thousands of snow geese at altitude getting hit by morning sun in a clear blue sky is a lovely sight.

 

[Kurts86]

I saw more dead snow geese this waterfowl season (24-25) by an order of magnitude likely to avian flu. This is an area that roosts tens of thousands of snow geese nightly and I have a few decades of experience in. Normally you might see 1 or 2 dead snow geese per day but this year we might see 30 per day.

This is the same disease driving up egg prices and it’s currently out breaking at generational high levels.

It seems to hit geese worse than ducks from just a visibility standpoint. I’m not sure if thats the case statistically or if it ties more into flock size.

 

[WCB]

Thing about this is it happens every year. Especially with the huge gathering of snow geese. I remember 20 years ago a huge die off around watertown sd growing up. The news has just found out about it and with the covid thing every one is hyper sensitive to the next pandemic. They need to find a better way to handle it in domestic birds than just kill them all.

not sure about "every year" in large quantities. Ive hunted spring snows since the first season. 3-4 years ago was way out of the ordinary. before that you may find a bird or two dead but not dozens in almost every pot hole and hundreds along lake shores. There were geese aimlessly walking in the ditches and just falling over dead in the middle of roads. And it was strung out along the whole flyway...again not just spotty roosts.

 

[KurtR]

not sure about "every year" in large quantities. Ive hunted spring snows since the first season. 3-4 years ago was way out of the ordinary. before that you may find a bird or two dead but not dozens in almost every pot hole and hundreds along lake shores. There were geese aimlessly walking in the ditches and just falling over dead in the middle of roads. And it was strung out along the whole flyway...again not just spotty roosts.

That year was way higher than normal. Its not a good thing but people just go ape shit thinking the world is coming to an end. Listened to some researchers the other day and they can almost predict when a really bad out break is possible by a population of birds that live in the far northeast of canada . It was pretty interesting and said wild birds are building an immunity to it as the ones that survive breed and pass it on to the next generations. I think thats something the domestic producers need to look into but with the govt involved im sure they wont allow any thing like that

 

[bpitcher]

That year was way higher than normal. Its not a good thing but people just go ape shit thinking the world is coming to an end. Listened to some researchers the other day and they can almost predict when a really bad out break is possible by a population of birds that live in the far northeast of canada . It was pretty interesting and said wild birds are building an immunity to it as the ones that survive breed and pass it on to the next generations. I think thats something the domestic producers need to look into but with the govt involved im sure they wont allow any thing like that

2022 was bad in Arkansas. Birds falling out of the sky, walking around with the wobbly head, paying no attention to humans.

Avian Cholera used to run through the big roosts down here as well. We had one ~80 acre pond that had a mega herd roost on it for a week or more. Lots of dead birds on the water.

 

[Macintosh]

The DU podcast episode 649 from this past January had a lot of good info on it both from a wildlife and a human health perspective.

Ep. 649 - New Avian Flu Developments – Have the Risks Changed?

Podcast Episode · Ducks Unlimited Podcast · 01/07/2025 · 1h 4m

podcasts.apple.com