Birds washing ashore at Great Salt Lake are result of 2024 bird flu
Apr 29, 2025, 4:00 PM | Updated: 7:13 pm
FILE: Visitors to the Great Salt Lake State Park and Marina walk along the beach in Magna on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Brice Tucker/Deseret News)
(Brice Tucker/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Dead birds continue to wash up on the shores of Great Salt Lake following the tens of thousands of bird flu deaths in the fall of 2024.
Avian influenza was confirmed in Utah in April 2022. According to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, this flu spreads more during the spring and fall bird migrations.
FILE: Birds take flight over the Great Salt Lake in Farmington Bay on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. (Spenser Heaps/Deseret News)
“Last summer, the cases dropped all the way up until November,” said DWR Veterinarian Ginger State. “So that’s kind of what we’re expecting this year too. We’re not going to see much of anything over the summer, and then with the migration in the fall, we might see an upramp of those cases.”
Great Salt Lake salinity a contributing factor
State said the lake’s salinity keeps bringing dead birds to the shore. The DWR has previously reported that the salt water “pickles” the bird’s carcass, hampering decomposition and scavenging.
“We have seen avian influenza in other areas of the state,” State said, “but it’s not to the extreme that we’ve seen it on the Great Salt Lake.”
At least 20,000 birds have washed up along Great Salt Lake shores this spring.
State said that if you visit Great Salt Lake and see dead birds, do not touch them. Also, don’t let your dogs near the carcasses. State said they could still be contaminated with flu.
