© Sueann MusickA large number of birds were seen lying on the ground dead in Lyons Brook Tuesday
Motorists driving through the village Tuesday would have noticed at least 20 or more starlings scattered over the road near the turnoff to Hardwood Hill.
Shavonne Meyer, a biologist with the Department of Natural Resources, said Wednesday that based on photos and observations by DNR technicians, it is most likely the birds died after striking a vehicle.
She said a transportation truck drove through the area at 8 a.m. Tuesday and the road was clear, but when the driver returned a short time later, the birds were on the ground. This allowed DNR to pinpoint a time when the strike took place.
"The birds are showing blunt force trauma so the most likely explanation is a flock of birds hit at once," she said. "It was probably a larger vehicle."
Meyer said starlings fly in flocks and spend the winters in this area. They are know to change direction very quickly and are guided by one another so they don't look around a lot.
"There is a motorist out there that knows exactly when and where it happened. It happened so quickly not much could be done to avoid it," she said.
Bird strikes with vehicles are not uncommon, but they aren't seen often either, she said. In fact, the highest human-caused mortality rate for birds is a result of vehicle strikes.
Another explanation would be electrocution by the power lines, but she said small birds can sit on wires without any trouble and if they were electrocuted they would show an entry and exit wound.
The birds exhibited no signs of such wounds, but instead showed signs of being struck by something.
Comment: Looking at the image above of the snowy road conditions, it seems unlikely that any vehicle was traveling at any great velocity on the day of the incident. Starlings, well-known for their speed and aerial maneuverability would (one can reasonably argue) normally easily avoid any collision as suggested in this report ( even if the vehicles were moving at normal speed) unless their ability to fly was impaired or were disoriented by some unknown environmental factor.
There have been a sizeable number of similar mysterious incidents in recent years, here's just a small sample of such reports:- Dozens of blood-soaked starlings found scattered along road in Bad Wildungen, Germany
Starlings fall to the ground along motorway near Vienna, Austria
Dozens of dead and dying starlings found on road in Wichita, Kansas
Flock of dead starlings falls out of sky in Bolton, England after 'loud bang' heard overhead
Double deja vu on December 31st? Up to 300 starlings litter roadway and fields in Seymour, Tennessee
Scientists baffled by over 100 dead starlings in Missouri
Grisly Mystery After Scores of Starlings Fall Out of the Sky and Lie Dying...in a SINGLE Front Garden