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The recent deaths of an estimated 1,500 sandhill cranes in Indiana due to bird flu has increased concerns for endanagered whooping cranes, including those that nest in Wisconsin.
Whooping cranes are making a stable but delicate comeback
Whooping cranes, once on the brink of extinction, are making a stable but delicate comeback, including the eastern flock in Wisconsin.
In the wake of an unprecedented mass die-off of sandhill cranes due to bird flu in Indiana, wildlife specialists are expressing heightened concerns over the potential impact of the disease to birds as they migrate north this spring, including endangered whooping cranes.
In late February the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, caused the deaths of an estimated 1,500 sandhill cranes across several counties in Indiana, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
It was the largest documented number of crane deaths due to bird flu anywhere in North America, said Anne Lacy, director of Eastern Flyway programs for the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo.
“It’s really shocking,” Lacy said of the crane deaths. “That magnitude of that loss makes us worried not only about sandhill cranes but of course whooping cranes, too.”
Lacy and the foundation work with partners in federal and state agencies as well as conservation organizations to monitor trends in crane populations and wildlife health across the continent.
Lacy said that during the winter of 2024-25 sandhill cranes also were reported to die from bird flu in Kentucky and Tennessee. But in those cases the numbers were lower than recently observed in Indiana.
The Eastern Population of sandhill cranes was estimated at 107,140 in fall 2022, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The migratory flock of endangered whooping cranes that mostly nests in Wisconsin had 70 birds as of February, according to the ICF.
The largest flock of whooping cranes nests in Wood Buffalo Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada, and winters along the Texas coast in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. It had 536 birds in the winter 2022-23 census, according to the USFWS.
Losses of wild birds to bird flu are extremely hard to document as most birds die in remote locations and are never recovered much less tested.
Lacy said to date no whooping crane has been known to die of bird flu. The ICF and partners are able to track many of the birds due to GPS devices attached to the birds.
As of Feb. 3, 17 of the whooping cranes in the eastern migratory population were in Alabama, three in Tennessee, eight in Kentucky, five in Illinois, 23 in Indiana and two in Georgia. The balance of the 70 were in unknown locations, according to the ICF.
Spring migration introduces increased risk of bird flu spread
But as birds of all species migrate north this spring it will present additional risks for the cranes to come in contact with the virus, including at stopover sites in Illinois and Indiana, Lacy said.
Bird flu spreads when infected birds shed the virus in their saliva, nasal secretions and feces, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Susceptible birds become infected when they have contact with the virus as it is shed by infected birds or surfaces contaminated with the virus.
Some birds carry the virus without getting sick. In other cases it causes mass mortality events.
As of March 4 the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported 12,467 detections of HPAI in wild birds in the nation since Jan. 1, 2022, including positive cases in each state.
The toll in domestic flocks is easier to track. As of Feb. 22, the USDA reported bird flu had killed or led to the loss of 166,198,358 domestic birds in the nation. This bird flu outbreak is the largest, deadliest and most costly in history, according to federal officials.
Bird flu has affected several species of birds in 2025 in Wisconsin and neighboring states
The disease has also affected mammals, including seals, foxes and bobcats as well as domestic cats, dairy cows and humans. Although it has led to one human death in the U.S., the risk to humans remains low, according to the CDC.
The recent crane deaths in Indiana are in addition to reports in 2025 of bird flu causing the loss of hundreds of Canada geese in Michigan, and dozens of mergansers and other ducks in Illinois and Wisconsin.
In southeastern Wisconsin, HPAI was identified in mid-February in a red-breasted merganser found dead in Milwaukee County, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The duck was among 21 birds taken in by the Wisconsin Humane Society’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Milwaukee between Jan. 2 and Feb. 10.
All were dead or so severely ill they were euthanized, said Mary Landry, WHS wildlife rehabilitator.
Public asked to help report bird deaths
The Wisconsin DNR asks the public’s help in monitoring for bird flu this spring.
If five or more sick or dead birds are observed in one area, the public is encouraged to report it by emailing to [email protected] or calling (608) 267-0866.
In your message, include the number of animals, the species (such as Canada goose), if they were sick or dead, the specific location where you saw them, including name of county, as well as your contact information.
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