Bald Eagle, American Symbol, Now Faces Annihilation from Avian Flu
Bird flu kills the first wild bald eagles. Medical experts and activists worry as the disease sweeps through populations of bald eagles in many states.
The Path to Eagle Nirvana of a Scientist
One lovely June morning, William Bowerman, a bald eagle researcher, set foot in Voyageurs National Park. Covering 136 square miles of lakes and sky, this park is a bald-eagle sanctuary. For decades, Bowerman enjoyed watching the majestic birds soar high with healthy eaglets in their nests and would drive around the park new eagle nests spotted from afar kept popping up all over the place. Things changed this year, though — the nests were empty having fewer eagles.
The new threat: avian influenza
Seventeen years ago, bald eagles were successfully delisted from the endangered species list after a lot of work to save the birds. But a new danger has developed and that is H5N1 avian flu. The recent level of impact on the eagle population is now likely only second to that caused by older dangers such as lead poisoning, pesticides and industrial pollutants.
Michigan saw Devastating Numbers
In Northern Michigan where Bowerman has spent over 40 years conducting eagle censuses, the number of eagle nests had shot up from 52 in 1961 to about 1,000 by 2021. However, that was before avian influenza arrived in late 2021 and occupied nests on the island plummeted by 50% within a year. Testing by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources showed 38% of bald eagles that could be diagnosed had died from the virus.
The Bald of Nationally on American Eagles
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reports that avian flu has killed at least 606 bald eagles in 45 states across the U.S. Some are recovered within a time frame long enough for testing to occur; however, they believe this is the tip of the iceberg as many dead birds are never found and tested.
Alarm in Florida and Georgia
Some areas in have been particularly hard-hit by the virus. In Florida and Georgia, successful eagle nesting fell off a cliff. Nest success rates for quail in Camden and Glynn counties in Georgia were down 43%, and 62%, respectively, in 2022. Many of these go on to infect Eagle with Mansonella larvae which often leads to their death and the deaths of it´s mate´s eggs.
A Broader Impact on Birds
Bald eagles are not the only ones being impacted by Avian flu. Several hundred hawks, owls and other raptors have already died of the virus. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, according to Nicole Nemeth, lead researcher at University of Georgia.
The Risk to Humans
While risk to humans is low, close contact with sick birds infected by the virus can enable infection. Richard J. Webby, a virologist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, warned that handling infected eagles could expose people to the virus in aerosol form.
Conservation Setbacks
The bald eagles thought to have been exposed to avian influenza Getty Images Avian flu outbreak; some 90 wild bald eagles have tested positive Checks on the birds. By the 1960s there were only 417 known nesting pairs of our national icon, the bald eagle that could be found in the lower 48 states. However, with the help of programs such as the ones conducted by The American Eagle Foundation, this number grew to an estimated 316,700 bald eagles in the U. S. by 2020.
A Global Bird Crisis
The bald eagles are not the only animals being impacted by this massive avian influenza outbreak. Julianna Lenoch, a coordinator with the APHIS, says it is unusual because even wild birds and waterfowl are not carriers of the virus: outbreaks had never caused bird species to die off as extensively on such global scale. Scientists are still unravelling why Avian Flu subtype h5n1 is fatal to wild birds.
Hollow tree nests, researchers believe may be related to avian influenza, a concern in Voyageurs National Park this year. The virus is on the verge of erasing decades of effort to recover one of America’s most endearing species.
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