Dead and Dying Geese in Thorton CO

[John Tumasonis]

All:

         Several dead Canada and Cackling geese found at Hunter's Glen Reservoir and Eastlake in Thornton yesterday (12/7/25).  I'm guessing these are cases of Avian Influenza coming back to haunt us.  I haven't seen any recent state reports of the what the status of avian influenza are in the state, but there were articles about 8 months ago that it was still a danger (to birds) in Colorado.  

Is anyone else seeing die offs in other locations?

John T (Tumasonis)

"I'm not a real birder.  I only pretend to be one on CoBirds." 

[Rachel Hopper]

I have several dying and dead Cackling Geese on Long Pond, Larimer County. My count so far is at least a dozen.

Rachel Kolokoff Hopper

Ft. Collins, CO 80524

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[DAVID A LEATHERMAN]

John et al,

Lots of dead “white” (Snow/Ross’s) geese apparent at John Martin Res/Lake Hasty two weeks ago.  This area is historically hunted heavily but my sense was the number of birds lying/floating around was more than would be a typical incidence of hunter cripples.  A few Canada/Cackling Geese are showing up at Sheldon Lake in Fort Collins City Park.

 

Dave Leatherman

Fort Collins

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[woodcr...@comcast.net]

All

I had the same experience at Jumbo last week. Several dead and dying white geese there as well.

Steve Larson 

Northglenn, CO

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[linda hodges]

All,

Am I mistaken or can we collect birds and take them to CPW for testing? Or DMNS?

Of course you’d need gloves and a large bag.

I’m not aware of this occurring in El Paso County.

Linda

Linda Hodges

Colorado Springs

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/1646481372.433684.1765230200509%40connect.xfinity.com.

[John Tumasonis]

All:

           I just called Denver office of Parks and Wildlife.  They told me that if 3 or more birds were seen dead, within 24 hours, to report them in to the Division in your area.  See phone number lists in this link:  

https://cpw.state.co.us/contact-us    

They also mentioned that you could bring dead birds in - but get full instructions from the local office before doing this - and use extreme care!  (gloves, masks,  garbage bags, ect.)  

Yeesh, this is sad.  I was hoping we wouldn't be seeing die-offs like we saw last year.  

John T

[Courtney R]

Contact the CPW for your area if you find three or more dead wild birds in a specific area within a two week period OR if you see live birds showing clinical signs.

CPW will advise what to do once they’re contacted. While the spread is not common to humans, precautions must be taken to prevent that. There is risk to domestic birds, cats, dogs to consider as well. 

Unless specifically directed by CPW, no specimens should be brought to them. They have a responsibility to interview any person that does contact Birds that have died from avian flu to assess the risk of spread.

I am not sure about DMNS, but we are dealing with a highly pathogenic strain of avian flu, so human handling of carcasses should be extremely limited and only carried on through professional instruction. 

In past years, CPW has provided a resource for Bird Conservancy Bald Eagle Watch volunteers to collect information from observers. I will check if that is still ongoing for this season and update the group. 

 

https://ag.colorado.gov/animal-health/reportable-diseases/avian-influenza

Thank you,

Courtney

Courtney Rella, PhD

dr.ca...@gmail.com

On Dec 8, 2025, at 15:00, linda hodges <hiker...@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CABW16T%3DOCf%3DRaHxFq3annc8f_4ryJoVWDgMXnfXhjeyO6wsNaA%40mail.gmail.com.

[linda hodges]

During the last dieoff, a TV station reached out to Aiken Audubon to interview us on the subject. We then called another TV station for another interview to make sure folks knew what, and what not, to do if they found a dead bird.

A LTE to your local paper is another option.

I’ll reach out to Michael Booth at the CO Sun.

Linda Hodges

[Deborah Carstensen]

My experience with turning birds into DPW is that, once they have documented instances of avian flu in an area, they don’t really need more birds to test. That was according to the DPW office in Littleton.

 I think they still want to know if there is any kind of mass die off. So sad, I never wanna see one dying of it again, it’s brutal. 

Deb Carstensen, Arapahoe county 

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 8, 2025, at 4:00 PM, linda hodges <hiker...@gmail.com> wrote:



During the last dieoff, a TV station reached out to Aiken Audubon to interview us on the subject. We then called another TV station for another interview to make sure folks knew what, and what not, to do if they found a dead bird.

A LTE to your local paper is another option.

I’ll reach out to Michael Booth at the CO Sun.

Linda Hodges

On Mon, Dec 8, 2025 at 3:25 PM Courtney R <dr.ca...@gmail.com> wrote:

Contact the CPW for your area if you find three or more dead wild birds in a specific area within a two week period OR if you see live birds showing clinical signs.

CPW will advise what to do once they’re contacted. While the spread is not common to humans, precautions must be taken to prevent that. There is risk to domestic birds, cats, dogs to consider as well. 

Unless specifically directed by CPW, no specimens should be brought to them. They have a responsibility to interview any person that does contact Birds that have died from avian flu to assess the risk of spread.

I am not sure about DMNS, but we are dealing with a highly pathogenic strain of avian flu, so human handling of carcasses should be extremely limited and only carried on through professional instruction. 

In past years, CPW has provided a resource for Bird Conservancy Bald Eagle Watch volunteers to collect information from observers. I will check if that is still ongoing for this season and update the group. 

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CABW16T%3DupCwe4iP1Au_JBB3M9tAbyaPns-tzJMSbHvOsbkVP3g%40mail.gmail.com.

[Rachel Hopper]

I’ll just say that I have had 3 dead birds & 2 more showing signs of illness in my backyard since I live on Long Pond. One actually died in my yard & not in the water. I contacted CPW & they were not in the least interested. Advised me to double bag the dead birds & throw them away. 

I have been collecting dead birds with mask & gloves & disposing of them (double bagged) in the Long Pond trash dumpster. 

I realize there’s a small risk to me but I think better than letting the resident Bald Eagles, Great Horned Owls & mammals in the area eat them & then get sick.

I am NOT advising anyone else to follow my lead. 

R.

-----------------------

Rachel Kolokoff Hopper

Follow me on iNaturalist
rkhphotography.net
ho...@comcast.net
Ft. Collins, CO

On Dec 8, 2025, at 3:25 PM, Courtney R <dr.ca...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Scott Rashid]

There has been at least 7 dead Canada’s at lake estes in the past few weeks. 

Scott Rashid 

Estes Park

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[David Hyde]

On Lake McIntosh in Longmont about a week ago before the recent snow, I approached an isolated Cackling goose by the shore. It moved slowly into the water and moved away and as it moved its head jerked briefly forward every few seconds. Having just looked it up I see these are symptoms of avian flu. I've seen no dead geese on this lake. I wonder if the isolation of a bird is done by the flock or the bird, realising it is sick, moves away? 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAKxmMRP_%3D2Lyo%2Bv%2BSTUEgATdX%2BLHtfSrumzMo8MbvcLcGK2zMg%40mail.gmail.com.