Bird Flu and bird baths - advice?

["Kim Farley via Canberrabirds " <>]

Good question Mitch. Garden ponds are certainly more challenging than bird baths when it comes to good garden hygiene in a bird flu world. Over time, my reading of the experience of bird flu in the UK - from RSPB web and Facebook pages - is that it is ponds where wild and domestic waterfowl gather that represent a bigger risk than small garden ponds. But like you, I would like to know more.

Obviously I am not an expert, but we do have an expert coming to our September meeting. Rachael Grigson is the ACT govt Biosecurity 

Vet. She gave a presentation on H5N1 flu at our March 2025 and is going to give us an update in Sept. I will pass her your question. 

Kim 

On Mon, 3 Aug 2026, 6:19 pm mitchell kelly via Canberrabirds, <> wrote:

With bird flu barrelling towards us, I just checked Birdlife Australia's advice regarding bird baths:

'As the virus appears in saliva and faeces, it can be transported easily in water, mud, sand and domestically, in chicken litter. Bird baths may still be used, provided they are cleaned frequently. This advice may change as the presence of H5 bird flu in Australia escalates.'

I presume this advice also applies to backyard ponds used by birds. Does anyone have any more precise advice about frequency of cleaning, and what to clean birdbaths with? With a very dry and hot El Nino predicted for this spring and summer, it's a conundrum whether to keep birds less stressed by supplying water, but at the risk of enabling the spread of infection.

Thanks

Mitchell Kelly

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