Robins, cedar waxwings and other birds have been bumping into trees and crashing into windshields in the neighbourhood. Reason? They are drunk
Remember Alfred Hitchcock’s horror film The Birds? Well, something similar happened in Gilbert, Minnesota.
Robins, cedar waxwings and other birds have been bumping into trees and crashing into windshields in the neighbourhood. Reason? They are drunk.
Gilbert Police took to Facebook to explain the reason behind the disoriented conditions of birds.
"It appears some birds are getting a little more 'tipsy' than normal," wrote police chief Ty Techar.
So, on what are these birdies getting high on?
According to Techar, the birds are consuming berries, which have fermented earlier than usual due to an early frost.
"It's more typical in late winter, early spring when berries that have been on branches ferment due to the yeast that's on them," said Anna Pidgeon, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin's Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology.
However, like humans, getting drunk is dangerous for the birds too.
Pidgeon said that they lose their coordination, they lose their natural ability to escape predators. Moreover, they also develop poor judgment when it comes to flying.
Not only this, the birds can also die of alcohol poisoning.
If anyone finds a drunk bird, Pidgeon said, he or she can it in a dark, safe place until and unless it can fly again.
Last Updated Oct 6, 2018, 6:41 PM IST