By Angela Hatton
MURRAY, Ky. – Murray State University officials say several hundred birds found dead on or near the campus last week did not die of disease or poison. The deaths included grackles, blackbirds, robins, and starlings.
Executive Director of the Breathitt Veterinary Center Dr. Wade Northington says biologists tested the birds and found sign of internal blunt force trauma. He adds it's not uncommon to find birds dead this way.
"It just really appears to be an event that may end up being tied back to a climate thing, the temperature change, and also when you have these huge flocks of birds that all of a sudden take off together they can collide with each other, so there's a lot of things that can happen that can end up resulting in these type events."
Northington believes a similar occurrence in which thousands of birds were found dead in Arkansas has drawn more attention to the event. He says on rare occasions strange wildlife events can lead to the discovery of new strains of disease. So far, that does not appear to be the case in the latest bird deaths.