Sadie Odell with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servicechecks and totals Caspian tern nests located at the northeastern end of Gravel Island offshore from the Door County peninsula on June 2, 2023. The white birds in the background are Herring Gulls, which also nest on the island.
Photo courtesy of Sumner Matteson

Bird flu killed nearly two-thirds of the state’s population of Caspian terns

By Danielle Kaeding

Published:

• Wednesday, June 7, 2023, 10:20am

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A state avian ecologist says a highly contagious bird flu that hit Wisconsin last year may have been the most deadly avian flu outbreak ever for wild birds in the Midwest.

Last year, highly pathogenic avian influenza killed almost two-thirds of the state’s breeding population ofCaspian terns. The white gull-sized tern with a black cap and coral-red bill is astate endangered bird. It’s only found at three sites in…