Sterling, Kansas - A central Kansas family hopes to learn what caused the deaths of dozens of birds that fell from trees outside their house.

Elizabeth Stange says it started with one or two birds tumbling to the ground Thursday afternoon, followed by dozens more. The Sterling woman told KWCH-TV that the birds all died within minutes of each other.

By evening, Stange says, she and her family collected about 50 birds from their driveway and yard.

Stange says a local veterinarian told her the birds probably ate something poisonous. But a few were sent to Kansas State University for a closer look.

At one point, Stange's family worried about leaving the house for fear of being hit by a falling bird. She calls the episode bizarre.