Animal control officers in Plainview are working to determine what caused the death of about 35 birds, according to the Plainview Daily Herald.

The Daily Herald reported the dead birds were found scattered in an area in northwest Plainview over the weekend.

This small die-off of grackles may be one the common deaths that occurs naturally, said Todd Montindan, a wildlife biologist in Canyon.

Birds may die from contact with contaminated water, sudden drops in temperature or a disease such as West Nile virus, which can kill birds very quickly, he said.

If one bird gets the disease, it can swiftly pass the disease to the rest of the flock because of their close proximity to one another.

In the die-off in Plainview, Montindan said the grackles were found in groups of five to 10 so they could have died from either a disease or a sudden freeze in temperature, but the exact cause was not yet known.

He advised the public to report wildlife die-offs to their local animal control officer or local parks and wildlife biologist and to not touch the dead animals.

Check back for more details as the information becomes available.

Comments (18)

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Here we go

Submitted by smadrid717 on January 6, 2011 - 10:51am.

Paranoia is way more contagious than any virus or bacteria. We need to be sensible about this bird bidness. It is obviously either the beginning of a killer flu that will wipe out 98% of the world's population, or the precursor to an alien invasion. Watch for dead birds in your yards. If you see one, let me know. I'm thinking about opening up a tinfoil hat stand here pretty quick.

@Smadrid

Submitted by adunn on January 6, 2011 - 11:06am.

It's the Apocalypse, man! The Mayas and Nostradamus were right!

How can people of the 21st Century be so credulous? We're about to see another "Y2K" runaway, with folks storing up water in plastic jugs and buying portable generators. No one ever learns anything.

Well, I think I'll just bop off down the hill and work on my new bunker for a while...

Adunn

Submitted by smadrid717 on January 6, 2011 - 11:29am.

Hope your bunker is reinforced against falling birds!

Another possibility...

Submitted by MrDeacon on January 6, 2011 - 11:29am.

"It is obviously either the beginning of a killer flu that will wipe out 98% of the world's population, or the precursor to an alien invasion."

The bird deaths may have been caused by a small accidental leak of the military's experimental chemical, 2-4-5 Trioxin...we will know for certain if this is the case, if/when the birds suddenly reanimate and attack the living.

Hale-Bopp

Submitted by smadrid717 on January 6, 2011 - 11:42am.

Wait! I can't believe I didn't consider it before. Maybe they're all committing mass suicide so they can ride a comet to heaven.

Its another Jonestown

Submitted by BassSpy on January 6, 2011 - 12:30pm.

They all passed around the same Kool-Aid.

I like when

Submitted by TiredofCrap on January 6, 2011 - 12:43pm.

I like when they do reports on people who are stocking up and storing goods in preparation for some cataclysmic event. This way, I know who I need to rob and where they store their stuff if that day should come to pass. But until then I will enjoy eating and drinking and wasteing my stuff in the right NOW.

05/21/2011

Submitted by bookemdanno on January 6, 2011 - 1:02pm.

The birds are going first!

Are the bees next?

Submitted by Truthpaste on January 6, 2011 - 4:15pm.

When I was a kid, 35 birds would have been an awesome day with a BB gun.

LARGE die-off of grackles

Submitted by aguilar on January 6, 2011 - 4:44pm.

I would love to have a "small die-off of grackles" on a larger scale for this invasive pest!

now, back to playing Angry Birds

@Aguilar

Submitted by adunn on January 6, 2011 - 7:07pm.

Now you're talkin'! Those nasty things run off every other bird for miles around.

There's a big old grackle rooster who's been creating a nuisance (and many grackle chicks, I think) on my block for 4 or 5 years now. The neighbors and I call him "Count Grackula".