SALT LAKE CITY — Some Utahns have started to notice an alarming number of dead birds at The Great Salt Lake.
After receiving a tip from viewers, FOX 13 News reached out to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, which confirmed the small outbreak among one wild species of waterfowl. DWR said an estimated 15,000-25,000 eared grebes died along the lake's shore, "primarily due to avian influenza."
Yiwei Zhou flew from Philadelphia on Sunday, and one of his first stops was the Great Salt Lake. He was taken with its beauty.
“It’s just so gorgeous on our way here. We never stopped commenting about the snow, the mountain,” said Zhou, a visitor.
Daniel Leavitt and his wife are visiting from San Diego. When they started heading toward the water, they started seeing dead birds.
“We noticed that there are dead birds. Like bodies. And the closer we got we just saw more of them,” said Leavitt.
John Luft, the program manager for the DWR's Great Salt Lake Ecosystem Program, explained that yearly outbreaks are common, and in 2024, it was avian influenza.
“Those we eared grebes. They are the largest populations that come to Great Salt Lake,” said Luft.
The birds people are seeing on the shores died a while back, according to Luft.
“They probably died back in November or so. But the interesting thing with the Great Salt Lake, with the high salt content, it pickles those birds and so they don’t decay or decompose,” said Luft.
Luft said birds will continue to wash up through the next few months.
In the meantime, visitors might want to watch their step while they're visiting the park.
“It’s pretty crazy to see like all the birds. Like if you’re not paying attention, you can definitely step on them,” said Leavitt.
Luft shared that while avian flu typically doesn’t transfer from birds to humans, he still suggests leaving the dead birds alone.
"I would recommend not touching them or picking them up or doing anything like that, so avoid those birds,” he said.
