INDIANAPOLIS — Just days after the Indiana Department of Natural Resources recommended that all Hoosiers remove their bird feeders statewide, reports of sick and dying songbirds continue to rise.
On Friday, the number of impacted counties jumped from five to 15. On Monday, that number rose to 40 impacted counties.
Those counties include:
- Allen
- Bartholomew
- Benton
- Brown
- Carroll
- Clark
- Decatur
- Delaware
- Floyd
- Gibson
- Green
- Hamilton
- Hendricks
- Jackson
- Jefferson
- Johnson
- Kosciusko
- LaGrange
- Lake
- LaPorte
- Marion
- Monroe
- Morgan
- Newton
- Parke
- Porter
- Starke
- St. Joseph
- Union
- Vanderburgh
- Washington
- Whitley
The DNR is continuing to recommend that people take the following steps statewide:
- Use the DNR sick/dead wildlife reporting tool at on.IN.gov/sickwildlife to alert DNR staff.
- Stop feeding birds until the mortality event has concluded.
- Clean feeders and baths with a 10% bleach solution.
- Avoid handling birds. If you need to handle birds, wear disposable gloves.
- When removing dead birds, wear disposable gloves and place birds and gloves in a sealable plastic bag to dispose of with household trash.
- Keep pets away from sick or dead birds as a precaution.
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