Salt Lake City - Several hundred birds are struggling for survival Monday after they accidentally landed at Dugway Proving Grounds where they are unable to take off again.
A group of eared grebes, a kind of migratory water fowl also known as black-necked grebes, were apparently fooled by the late snow and cold April weather and landed at an area they mistook for water at Dugway Proving Ground, according to spokesperson Paula Thomas.
Because the birds are water-bound, they can't take off from dry land. Several hundred birds were either trapped and struggling or dead when discovered by staff Monday morning, Thomas said.
Wildlife Biologist Robbie Knight said 20 civilians and 20 soldiers are are attempting to save as many of the birds as possible by loading them up into large boxes and moving them to nearby water sources where they can take off, including Horseshoe Springs, Skull Valley and retention ponds at Dugway itself.
About 2,000 birds have been moved so far. Knight said he could see birds stuck on the ground throughout the West Desert on his way to assess the situation.
Knight said this happens ever year or two and is fairly normal.
"This is not as strange as people think," he said.
Anyone who has seen these stranded birds is asked to report the sighting to 435-831-3448.
maybe they don't get enough air to breath and fall on the ground and in the sea animals die in a similar fashion, luck of oxygen