Bald Eagle Found Injured In Shirley Euthanized: DEC

SHIRLEY, NY — The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is waiting for avian flu testing results on the carcass of a bald eagle that was found injured at South Haven Park in Shirley on Tuesday, the agency said.

A wildlife rehabilitation facility brought the eagle to Cornell University's lab for testing, and it will be taken to the DEC’s pathology lab in Delmar, NJ, for a necropsy, according to the agency.

Rehabilitators from the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays told News 12 that the bird had multiple seizures, fell off of a tree, and had been making loud screeching sounds.

A second bird, which was found in December is suspected of having avian flu, and the agency is waiting for confirmation from the National Veterinary Services Laboratories. It was observed by wildlife rehabilitators in Centerport for about four days and appeared to have a leg injury which may have prevented it from perching, but was later euthanized.

There is a widespread highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak across North America in wild and domestic birds. It started in late 2021.

Jessica Chiarello of the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center told News 12, "What we do know about avian flu is it's wiped out farms of domestic fowl, and so that is the scary part about the convergence between our wild birds and our domestic birds."

The DEC is requesting that the public report sick or dead waterfowl, shorebirds, gulls, and raptors to a local regional office so that occurrences of avian flu can be tracked.

"The information is helpful not only to understand the scope of the outbreak, but also to work with our partners at the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets to alert nearby owners of backyard flocks and commercial poultry producers," the agency said.

So far, avian flu confirmations Suffolk County between 2022 and 2023 include:

• Bald eagle 2
• Snow goose 1
• Common loon 1
• Sanderling 2
• Mute Swan 1
• Red-tailed hawk 1
• Herring gull 1
• Ring-necked pheasant 4 (game farm escapes)
• Great horned owl 3
• Great black-backed gull 1

Confirmations in adjacent Nassau County between 2002 and 2023, include:

Red-tailed hawk 2

Black skimmer 1

Canada goose 3

Mute swan 1

For more information, go to: https://www.dec.ny.gov/press/125203.html