Dead starling
"It was really bizarre I mean you wonder what could've caused that."

A strange scene on the street of an Elmira neighborhood has some searching for an explanation.

On Saturday March 19, Ryan Keilman observed one dead bird on his lawn between the curb and the road on Davis Street in Elmira and thought nothing of it until he got a phone call from his mom who sounded concerned with the scene she saw while leaving his residence. Upon observing an unsettling scene of dozens of deceased animals just outside of his home, Keilman contacted multiple agencies to get answers.

"My mother, she stopped by when she was leaving she called me and said hey you need to come outside and I went out and she's like did you see all of these and originally I counted 21 but then I ended up double counting it was 25 dead birds," said Keilman.

Thomas Kump, The Director Of Environmental Health for The Chemung County Health Department said after receiving a report he contacted the state to determine the next action to be taken.

"I contacted the New York State Department Of Environmental Conservation, their wildlife unit, and I will report the findings to them and they will make the decision whether or not they will be able to come down and grab a sample for testing," said Kump.

Right now the cause of the animal deaths remain unclear, but the local health department has some idea of what next steps could be.

"They might come out to take some samples do some necropsies of the animals and find out what caused it whether it was chemical or some other disease or illness," said Kump.

However at least one concerned father continues to anxiously await an explanation.

"I guess you never know environmentally what the impact is and if there is a large scale something going on or not," said Keilman. "But that way at least the experts in the field can look at an isolated incident and see if it's something more widespread or not."

The Chemung County Health Department is awaiting further instruction from the DEC and said if a resident sees a scene similar to the one on Davis Street, they can contact the DEC for action.