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Feeding wild birds can spread bird flu: Experts have four ways to reduce the risk

Many Australians feed wild birds, but as H5 bird flu spreads, the Biodiversity Council warns that backyard bird feeders can create hotspots for disease transmission. Here are four ways you can reduce your risk.
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The Biodiversity Council is a registered Australian not-for-profit charity, recognised by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), meeting national standards for integrity, transparency and accountability.

Acknowledgements

The Biodiversity Council acknowledges the First Peoples of the lands and waters of Australia, and pays respect to their Elders, past, present and future and expresses gratitude for long and ongoing custodianship of Country.

The Biodiversity Council is an independent expert group founded by 11 Australian universities to promote evidence-based solutions to Australia’s biodiversity crisis. It receives funding from 11 university partners and The Ian Potter Foundation, The Ross Trust, Trawalla Foundation, The Rendere Trust, Isaacson Davis Foundation, Coniston Charitable Trust and Angela Whitbread.


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Biodiversity Council

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Victoria 3010 Australia


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Media Release

Feeding wild birds can spread bird flu: Experts have four ways to reduce the risk

20 August 2026
Many Australians feed wild birds, but as H5 bird flu spreads, the Biodiversity Council warns that backyard bird feeders can create hotspots for disease transmission. Here are four ways you can reduce your risk.
Read More
Media Release

Keep dogs leashed as bird flu spreads, wildlife experts urge

10 August 2026
As deadly H5 bird flu spreads among wild birds in Australia, the Biodiversity Council is urging dog owners to keep their pets leashed around beaches, lakes and rivers to protect wildlife, their dogs and their families.
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Media Release

As bird flu kills Australian wildlife, experts ask Minister to back resilience claims with evidence

3 August 2026
The Biodiversity Council is asking Environment Minister Murray Watt to publicly substantiate his claim that Australia's most vulnerable birds and mammals have been strengthened through two to three years of government investment.
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Media Release

Experts back urgent five-point plan for H5N1 bird flu

7 July 2026
The Biodiversity Council says much more needs to be done now to help protect wildlife, ecosystems, people and the economy from the deadly threat of H5N1 avian flu on the Australian mainland.
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Media Release

Council appoints research publishing innovator CEO

18 June 2026
The Biodiversity Council has appointed Jack Rejtman, the co-founder and former Managing Director of The Conversation Media Group, as new CEO.
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Media Release

Scientists and young people send joint letter to PM about intergenerational failure of the budget on nature

2 June 2026
Deep frustration with the budget has led more than 400 scientists, young people, Indigenous leaders, and conservation experts to write collectively to the Prime Minister and Treasurer, pleading for adequate funding to stop rapid nature loss.
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Media Release

The damage caused to nature by Australia’s biggest 200 companies

27 May 2026
Our new report identifies the industries and individual companies with the most harmful impacts on nature through water use, greenhouse gas emissions, land clearing, and pollution.
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Media Release

Could entrepreneurial nature finance approaches fill the nature funding gap? Results from global review

21 May 2026
A new global review has found that nature finance and biodiversity markets alone are not a silver bullet for closing conservation funding gaps, with governments and philanthropy set to remain essential for protecting and restoring nature.
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Media Release

Biodiversity Council warns: handing environmental approval powers to states is premature and high-risk

30 April 2026
The Biodiversity Council has called on the federal government to scrap plans to hand national environmental approval powers to states and territories until strong National Environmental Standards (NES) have been developed.
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Media Release

Robodebt for the environment - Rushing AI into EPBC Act assessments could repeat past policy failures

7 April 2026
The Minerals Council of Australia has called on the Australian Government to invest $13 million to embed AI tools into federal environmental approval processes, which may drive endangered species closer to extinction.
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