Selawik National Wildlife Refuge received reports of dead birds in the Kotzebue area last week.
“At this time, I wouldn’t characterize this as a significant issue,” said Brittany Sweeney, assistant refuge manager. “Of course, any time there are dead birds and we don’t know the cause, we want to look into it; however right now it seems to be a small number of birds.”
Biologists collected bird carcasses and notified the bird hotline about the situation, Sweeney said.
While U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services has received many calls about dead or sick birds from the public, it is hard to know which calls are duplicates, said January Frost, avian influenza coordinator at the Migratory Birds Management program at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. She estimated the number of dead birds to be between 50 and 75.
“Approximately 15 birds were sent in for testing with the state vet,” Frost said. “It can take weeks before results come in, so there isn’t any information available at this time. "
The refuge staff asked residents who observe dead seabirds to follow safety steps such as calling the Alaska Sick or Dead Bird Hotline at (866) 527-3358 and sharing with them the location, species and date and time they found them.
“For your safety, do not handle any sick birds or any bird that is found dead,” the refuge staff said in the Facebook post.
Frost also recommended avoiding handling sick or dead birds and, if necessary, using disposable gloves or an inside-out plastic bag.
Resident Susan Tessier reported spotting a small gull on the bridge behind Kotzebue in June.
“The bird wouldn’t fly and was walking slowly,” Tessier wrote.
In the past, there have been other reports of dead seabirds washing up on shores in the Kotzebue area, Nome, Kivalina and other places around the state.