Bird flu on the downturn in Sask, putting up feeders OK

About a month ago, the sight of dead birds was sadly common in Saskatchewan.

The bird flu left the corpses of snow geese scattered in Regina fields.

However, things have made a turn for the better.

That’s according to Jordan Ignatiuk, the executive director of Nature Saskatchewan.

In an interview, he said things have improved for birds in the province for now.

“I would say that it seems to have tailed off a little bit, part of that being just (that) the major part of the migration has sort of moved through,” he explained.

What exactly does the migration have to do with the virus and its spread?

“It was predominantly being found in waterfowl. The snow geese, lesser Canada geese, white-fronted (geese), they’re all flying through to the Arctic. So that seemed to be the bulk of the cases that were being found. At this point, I’m not hearing the same numbers of cases of dead birds being found,” he said.

However, that doesn’t mean we’re completely through the woods just yet.

“It’s just a matter of how long does it persist during this nesting season up there and what happens in the fall when they come back,” Ignatiuk said.

“So (we’ll) wait and see.”

If you like putting up a bird feeder to watch your colourful, feathered friends in the yard, this is good news for you.

Ignatiuk said it’s perfectly fine to put out a feeder. You won’t have to worry about making birds sick.

And it seems like that has been the case for a while.

“Initially, there was a lot of … conflicting type of information, in terms of ‘Yes, take them down.’ Then, as more information came out, we found that … songbirds weren’t very affected at all by the bird flu,” he explained.

However, he does recommend taking one simple step to keep the birds you feed healthy.

“The one recommendation, which is a good practice at any time, (is) to clean them regularly with a 10 per cent bleach solution, whether it’s a birdbath or a bird feeder,” he said.

However, since waterbirds are so much more vulnerable to the virus, it might not be a good idea to toss them birdseed at the park for now.

“You see a lot of people feeding them bread at Wascana (Park), and that’s not necessarily something that’s good for their diet. So some of the feeding shouldn’t take place anyways, but definitely right now it’s something that people shouldn’t do,” he said.