Public Continues to Misunderstand Sudden Bird Deaths

Hundreds of starlings fell to the asphalt yesterday afternoon during rush hour on Interstate 95 near Laurel, Maryland, in the Washington, DC area. Traffic backed up as motorists tried to avoid running over the birds.

The Washington Post and ABC7 quote Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologist Peter Bedel as saying the birds likely just flew into a truck.

Lots of pics and videos of dead birds; lots of conjecture about the Aflockolypse of New Year’s Eve 2011.

Read the Washington Post story.
See the ABC7 story.
Here’s a brief in the Baltimore Sun.

Photo: A starling (not dead) by Dr. Thomas G. Barnes, courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service.