Dead starlings in Rome
The birds began plummeting from the sky last weekend, leaving a litter of tiny corpses across roads and pavements. Normally, they weave intricate shapes in the sky, twisting and turning in formations known as murmurations to deter predators while providing a show for locals.
But at Porta Pia, one of the gates of Rome, and in other neighbourhoods, residents had to tiptoe around fallen birds' bodies, while mopeds risked skidding on corpses crushed by passing cars. "It was like a Hitchcock film — there was a lot of blood and the smell became horrible," Paolo Peroso, head of the Porta Pia residents' association, said.
Comment: A dark December: In one month Moscow totals 6 minutes of sunlight while Belgium bears just 10.5 hours