BLOOMFIELD — Even Edgar Allan Poe may have gasped at the morbidity along Bloomfield Highway on Thursday.
At lunchtime on Thursday, 40 to 50 dead European starlings were scattered in a 50-foot circle across U.S. 64 in Bloomfield. Some were lying on their backs with their small feet sticking up in the air, and at least one of them was missing its head.
About 30 dead birds were north of the highway just east of Murph’s Complete Automotive Service, at 6658 U.S. Highway 64. About 20 additional piles of flattened feathers were on the highway.
John Kendall, a wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Land Management, investigated the cluster and identified the species of bird.
The starlings likely roosted in shrubs north of the highway Wednesday night and died when they flew into the side of a large vehicle driving the highway late Wednesday or early Thursday morning, he said.
“It certainly is unusual,” Kendall said. “Usually birds are smarter than that.”
European starling are non-native birds and are considered to be an invasive species, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s website. They were introduced to America as part of a plan to bring all the birds mentioned in Shakespearean literature to the country.
The birds form huge colonies of hundreds or even thousands of starlings, Kendall said.
“They’re pretty fun to watch because they’re a big blob of birds that bobs and weaves,” he said.
But their massive flock size also increases the chances a group of a few dozen birds could break off and kill themselves, Kendall said.
A large die-off of any animal species can signal a health concern because the animals could have been poisoned. In the past, flocks of birds would sometimes die if they came into contact with open pits at natural gas wells, Kendall said.
Those circumstances are rare now because of industry regulations, he said.
Kendall said it is unlikely the Bloomfield birds died from environmental causes because the animals were so close together when they died.
The San Juan County Public Works Department removes large animal carcasses such as deer from roads and takes the dead animals to the regional landfill.
The county will not remove the dead birds because the tiny animals won’t threaten passing vehicles, said Tom Cunningham, a public works manager for the county.
“Some predator will get them,” he said.
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Distributed by MCT Information Services
