The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) are advising the public that a great black backed gull that was found seriously ill on a beach in South Kingstown on June 23 has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The wildlife officials also are announcing that the dead shearwaters recently found on Rhode Island beaches that were tested for HPAI came back negative. It is recommended that the public stays clear of sick or dead birds on seashores and reports any cases of waterbird deaths to the Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife at https://ridem.wufoo.com/forms/bird-mortality-reporting-form/.A relatively small number of waterbirds such as cormorants, gulls, shearwaters, and terns washing up dead on beaches is normal in the summer, but in the past six weeks multiple locations along the Atlantic Coast, including Rhode Island, have seen higher than usual numbers. DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, which is collecting reports from the public, currently counts 40 dead waterbirds reported this summer, excluding the separate mortality event of shearwaters that is now thought to be unrelated to HPAI. Wildlife biologists advise, however, that reports coming
