Mystery surrounds dead birds found outside restaurants in NC town. Were they poisoned?
Dozens of birds — some in a near-catatonic state and many already dead — were found Monday near the parking lots of three fast-food restaurants and a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in North Carolina, according to a local rescue organization.
So far, only four have survived.
“They were already dying, died in our hands as we carried them to the car, or died during transport,” Skywatch Bird Rescue said in a Facebook post Monday night.
The birds’ behavior, combined with the isolated location of their bodies, indicates they may have been poisoned, according to Skywatch, a nonprofit based in coastal Castle Hayne that rescues and rehabilitates “injured, orphaned and misplaced birds.”
The group was made aware of the injured and dead birds late Sunday after someone called the rescue’s wildlife hotline. They were found in nearby Leland, just west of Wilmington.
Rescuers determined the birds were grackles, a fairly common blackbird often seen on suburban lawns or flying in large flocks in the evenings, according to the National Audubon Society.
Skywatch said the birds “tend to scavenge parking lots in flocks.”
The first intake of 12 grackles was dropped off after hours on Sunday, Skywatch said. Given the unusual circumstances, the rescue group feared there may be more where they came from.
The following day, volunteers reportedly found dozens of the birds near a McDonald’s, KFC and Taco Bell in Leland. Skywatch said they were also found in the parking lot of a nearby Piggly Wiggly.
“Many were already dead, or in a catatonic state of immobility,” the rescue organization said on Facebook. “Some were dying but still mobile enough to be in the trees making small movements. Every now and then one would fall from the tree and not be able to move, other than blinking.”
If it were disease or a natural occurrence, Skywatch’s founder and director Amelia Mason told The Wilmington Star-News, rescuers wouldn’t be seeing this in just one species found in a single parking lot.
“I think somebody just got sick of there being so many and is putting out poison,” she said, according to the Star-News. “But that’s just an assumption at this point until we get lab testing back.”
If the birds were poisoned, Skywatch said, other animals could eat them and become infected second-hand.
“We found some birds had already been eaten by feral cats in the wooded area near a tree where many birds fell from,” the rescue group said. “Some birds were hiding by bushes and under cars, some were laying on rooftops.”
Skywatch said it’s likely more birds will show up in the coming days, and additional volunteers will be sent to collect them.
What to do if you find the birds
The rescue group asks anyone who finds one of the birds not to pick it up with bare hands or toss it in the woods. It might not be obvious if the grackle is dead, as some are stiff and appear catatonic, the Star-News reported.
“You can’t even tell that the bird’s still alive except that they’re still blinking,” Mason told the newspaper.
Skywatch says to wear gloves and put the bird in a plastic bag. People can also call the rescue’s hotline at 1-855-40-RESCU (1-855-407-3728) and leave a message detailing where the grackle was found so volunteers can collect it.
In the meantime, Skywatch has sent specimens to regional wildlife biologists and the N.C. State Veterinary Medicine diagnostic laboratories for testing. State officials have also been informed.
This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Mystery surrounds dead birds found outside restaurants in NC town. Were they poisoned?."
