Swans displaying unusual posture floating in lake

Observation report by Gay Sheffield:

A local resident who was a passenger on a small commercial plane flying between Nome and Golovin on May 5th reported seeing 5-6 swans all motionless and floating on a pond. The individual was in contact with the UAF Alaska Sea Grant office in Nome. Here are the notes from that conversation. "I was too late to get a picture, but I saw 5-6 swans floating in a pond in this area. They all had their wings partly spread out in the water, with the heads stretched out in front of them. We were over 500’ up, so I couldn’t tell, but they were all floating in this weird way - wings less than half ways stretched out and the head stretched out pointed forward. Never seen that before. We flew from Nome following the coast and headed towards White Mountain before we reached Bluff. There’s big open flats with ponds on the West side of the Fish River. It’s in the same flats on the White Mountain/Nome trail. The water looked kind of deep from the air. At the time they were floating near the middle, they may have blown to the shore of the pond. To the west there is open tundra, but it had more snow on the tundra yesterday. I know it wasn’t the biggest pond, but it was just about all ice free.

Comment by LEO Editor:

There was no on site follow up possible on this report, so it is not known whether these birds were alive or dead, sick or healthy. However, given recent reports of avian influenza in other parts of Alaska, all observations about unusual bird behavior are worth noting. Gay Sheffield reported this event on the individual's request to the USFWS Sick Bird Hotline, 1-866-527-3358. Please note that there are no confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) at this time in the Bering Strait Region. HPAI will be a topic of discussion at the upcoming UAF Strait Science webinar on May 26th at 6:30 pm as well as on the Alaska LEO Network webinar on June 14th. We encourage observers to report (but do not touch) dead or injured birds to the USFWS hotline. You are also welcome to post these and other wildlife health observations to LEO Network. M. Brubaker

Comment by Andy Ramey of USGS:

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is a specific type of ‘bird flu’ that may cause severe disease or death among infected birds. Waterfowl (e.g., ducks, swans, and geese), and raptors (e.g., eagles, hawks, and falcons) are the most common wild birds adversely affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza. Currently, North America is experiencing a geographically widespread outbreak of highly pathogenic avian in both wild and domestic birds. Recent detections have been made in waterfowl (i.e. Canada goose) and/or raptors (i.e. bald eagles) in the Aleutians, Southcentral, Southeast, and Interior Alaska. Observations of potentially sick or dead wild birds and prompt reporting to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Sick/Dead Bird Hotline (1-866-527-3358) are extremely important for understanding wild bird health in Alaska in general, as well as the current distribution and impacts of highly pathogenic avian influenza as part of the current outbreak. Detailed observations of sick or dead birds with specific location information and photos or video are the best way to facilitate agency response. Unfortunately, without follow up investigation and diagnostic testing, it cannot be determined whether these particular swans exhibiting unusual posture in the Bering Strait Region were affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza, another illness, or whether the unusual observation was on account of other factors. I encourage LEO Network observers to consult a webpage maintained by the Office of the State Veterinarian (https://dec.alaska.gov/eh/vet/announcements/avian-influenza-outbreaks), which is updated regularly, for the latest information on the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Alaska. Guidance on best practices for the handling and preparation of hunter-harvested wild birds can be found on websites maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/2015/fsc_hpai_hunters.pdf) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (https://www.fws.gov/story/highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-and-migratory-birds-alaska#:~:text=Highly%20pathogenic%20avian%20influenza%20(HPAI,domestic%20poultry%20and%20wild%20birds.). Additional information on how the current outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza pertains to human health and safety is available from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-flu-summary.htm).

Comment by Angela Matz, USFWS:

The Hotline is receiving calls from people throughout the State - from Southeast to the far north. If you call, please give as much detail as possible about your observation, such as latitude, longitude, and specific location description; behavioral observations of the bird(s) or a positive confirmation of mortality; the species or type of bird; and the time and date of your observations. The person who answers the phone will ask you other questions to get a better idea of what you saw. Please note that the response is determined on a case-by-case basis, and may not include collection of all sick or dead birds reported. If we cannot collect the birds, we will work with the caller to determine a path forward. Some of the criteria that will guide the response are bird species, number of individuals, time since the observation was made, current condition of the carcass(es), and location. Please understand that resource agency personnel may be unable to respond to some reports from remote areas before sick or dead birds are scavenged. For the swans reported north of Nome, additional information was requested to verify the mortality event and get a more specific location, because the first observation was made from an airplane. Without this specific information we were not able to follow up on this report.

The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) believes that the public health risk from HPAI in North America is low, but Alaska spring waterfowl hunters should still exercise caution while hunting and eating migratory birds by following these steps to reduce infection risk:

• Do not harvest game that appear sick or are found dead.
• Wear rubber or disposable latex or nitrile gloves while handling and cleaning game.
• When done handling game, wash hands thoroughly with soap or disinfectant, and disinfect knives, equipment, and surfaces that were in contact with game.
• Do not eat, drink, or smoke while handling game.
• Cook game thoroughly to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.