East End officials respond as dead birds pile up on Long Island shorelines
On March 2, the town of Southampton issued a safety advisory for avian flu, but the situation hasn't gotten any better.
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Dead birds continue to pop up along the shorelines of Long Island's East End – an ongoing issue that has hit parts of the Town of Southampton particularly hard.
Viewer video from earlier this week showed dozens of dead geese lining parts of Sagg Pond in Sagaponack.
Town officials said this has become a widespread issue affecting birds all across Long Island, mostly due to the avian flu.
Officials discussed the topic at a board meeting on Thursday, noting that the issue is more public facing than it has been in the past due to it affecting waterfowl, rather than agricultural birds like chickens, which tend to be privately owned.
"The avian flu situation is not new to us, but it's different this year," said Ryan Murphy, Southampton Town's Public Safety and Emergency Management Administrator.
Murphy said the town did not need to declare a state of emergency over the increasing amount of dead geese and he believes the issue will pass quickly as temperatures rise.
Southampton Town is working closely with the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation. The town also retained a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator to safely collect and remove deceased birds using state-supported protocols, including proper containment and offsite disposal, to reduce exposure risks and ensure full regulatory compliance.
Officials said cleanup efforts are expected to begin across beaches, wetlands and waterways as early as this week or next week.
Earlier this week, residents in Nassau County sounded the alarm on the number of dead birds found in Bayville, on March 4, the town of East Hampton issued an advisory for possible avian flu cases and last month, viewer pictures showed a dozen or more dead birds at Milburn Pond in Baldwin.
According to the state's health guidelines, municipalities are not required to remove deceased birds and on-site burial is an approved option instead, but the town feels that a more protective, public health-focused approach is warranted in this situation.
Dead birds infected with avian flu pose potential health risks to humans, pets and other wildlife through direct contact.
Residents are strongly advised not to handle the birds and to keep pets away from affected areas.
In a previous statement, the DEC said bird flu has been confirmed across the Long Island region and large numbers of deceased birds are highly likely to be Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) positive.
The DEC said it expects bird flu cases to lessen as we head into spring because birds no longer gather in large flocks and break off into breeding pairs during warmer months. Smaller flocks or groupings of birds lessen the chance of transmission of bird flu within a flock.
