DEM: Gaspee Point swan not shot, but likely died of bird flu, coyote attack
WARWICK/BARRINGTON, R.I. (WJAR) — Not mankind, but nature is apparently to blame for recent mute swan deaths in Rhode Island.
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management told NBC 10 News it wasn't a person who shot and killed a mute swan at Gaspee Point last week. In fact, the agency thinks it's a combination of the bird flu and an attack by a coyote.
"It's a far more natural cause [of death]," said RIDEM spokesperson Mike Healey on Wednesday.
State veterinarian Scott Marshall, DVM, performed a necropsy on the swan Monday, where he found multiple sets of symmetrical puncture wounds on the throat and the neck, and more marks on the body.
"These wounds were shallow, but they did a lot of damage to the tissue underneath the feathers," Healey told NBC 10 News. "They were consistent with the crush of a bite."
Healey said a wildlife vet X-rayed the bird last week and didn’t find either a projectile lodged in the body or any broken bones.
"We strongly believe that what happened to that bird in Gaspee Point was that it wasn't shot, but most likely [was] weakened by the bird flu and therefore, vulnerable to an attack from a predator like a coyote. The coyote attacked it, bit it and killed it," Healey said.
Bird flu testing is now underway to confirm the agency's theory. Last Thursday, DEM said the bird had been shot to death.
Wednesday's update comes just days after the agency recovered two more dead mute swans in the same Gaspee neighborhood. One was perfectly intact, while the other was badly torn up and had started decomposing. The state vet examined the birds and believes the bird flu was the likely cause of death.
"One of the ways bird flu affects birds is that it attacks their brains, so they act funny," Healey explained. "It weakens any animal that it infects. So a mute swan would be weakened and vulnerable to an attack by something else, like coyote."
DEM has received dozens of reports of birds exhibiting symptoms of the bird flu.
Dead mute swans aren't a unique problem to Warwick, either. One was reported in Johnston this week, and a Barrington woman turned to NBC 10 when she found one at the Osamequin Nature Preserve on Tuesday.
"It was awful. I was taking a walk with my dog, and we stumbled upon it. Literally ruined my whole day," said Tamra Balasco.
Healey says the swan found in Barrington was also not shot and likely suffered a similar fate as the Gaspee Point swan. It's unclear whether a bird flu test for the Barrington bird has been ordered, as kits can be very costly.
The bird flu is common in Rhode Island's waterfowl, and the influenza's current strain dates back to December 2021.
"This strain of bird flu is the worst that the United States has ever experienced," Healey said. "Birds fly [into our state] and they move around and if they have contracted the bird flu, wherever they land, if they interact with other birds at that location, they're going to infect them, and that's what happened."
Healey confirmed at least two bird flu tests -- including the Gaspee Point swan initially thought to have been shot -- were sent to a USDA facility in Western Massachusetts. Results could be available in mid-to-late March.