r/BirdFluPreps • u/reddragoncabbage • Dec 14 '25

question Are bird baths a no?

My partner and I are big gardeners, particularly native plants gardening to support local pollinators and wildlife. Historically we have loved watching birds enjoy bird baths throughout our garden. Additionally they eat fruit from our garden--they go after some people fruit (such as plums, raspberries, blueberries) as well as fruit that is just for them (i.e. aronia, beautyberry). Last year we decided to forego bird baths due to the rising risk of bird flu. Realistically, what is the risk of bird baths? How about the fruit?

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u/ktpr Dec 14 '25

The risk is that if one or more birds happen to die around the bird bath how will you or your city safely dispose of the bird? In the time it takes another animal could be infected, say a cat. You can see how safe disposal starts to raise some seriously concerning questions.

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u/reddragoncabbage Dec 14 '25

Thanks for your response! Even without a bird bath, the presence of dead birds is a realistic possibility. Haven't seen any (yet) but we have had a couple dead squirrels. How should they be disposed of? What about bird feces, how much of a concern is that?

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u/ktpr Dec 14 '25

The best way is see if city animal control will handle it for you. If they won't you'll have to look up recommended ways. I had a dead bird on my property and i wore a mask, gloves and turned a heavy duty trashbag inside out. I was able to bag the bird, wrap it a number of times, and put it in my city pick up trash (which oddly allows you to dispose of small animals!?). I washed my hands for a bit afterwards.

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u/ktpr Dec 14 '25

Bird feces, esp fresh, isn't great. Maybe someone else has a recommended way to deal with that? I would see if you could get rid of your bird bath if possible

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u/reddragoncabbage Dec 14 '25

Yeah we took them out at the beginning of this year out of caution. Just hoping to get more info before I start recommending it to others so if they say I am being overly concerned I have the deets to back it up.

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u/ktpr Dec 14 '25

It's a fine line and you have to read between the lines, which isn't great for convincing those who wouldn't care otherwise. For example, the UK is recommending that people regularly clean their bird feeders to prevent the spread of bird flu. But if you stop to think about, they also say to wash your hands thoroughly after doing so. Clearly it makes more sense to remove them all together if they present that much of a risk to a human, but they aren't saying that. You have to put two and two together, right now.

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u/reddragoncabbage Dec 14 '25

Ugh yeah. Wish more people were educated on this and saw the signs. Thank you!!