Kentucky town goes bird-crap crazy

[marmar]

LA GRANGE, KY (WAVE) – One Oldham County Neighborhood is dealing with an overcrowding problem, you have to see to believe.

"I've really never seen anything like it," said Kelly Powers, who lives in an apartment off of Jericho Road. "I was scared. The first time, I didn't know what was happening."

....(snip)....

With all of these birds, comes quite a mess. "When it comes down it sounds like rain coming down," said Powers. "I mean literally from inside our apartment you think it is raining outside."

With the extra bacteria in the air, many neighbors are questioning their health. "The other kids in the neighborhood have been getting sick," said Kelly Strausbaugh. "We are all dealing with respiratory upper infections. I don't really know for sure if we can blame it on the birds, but I feel like it is all the birds' fault. All of these problems came when the birds came." ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.wave3.com/story/16593789/tens-of-thousands-of-birds-invade-oldham-county-neighborhood

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. I wonder what the local predator count is..

The article doesn't say what kind of bird, other than 'black birds'. I'd guess that they lost their previous habitat, or predator levels have crashed.

on edit: found a link that says they are mostly European Starlings, an imported invasive species. They live for up to 15 years and usually return to the same mass nesting site every winter.

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/european_starling.htm
Today, starlings live just about everywhere. They are very comfortable living around people and have no problem nesting on, or inside, buildings. Starlings nest in cavities (holes) and are very aggressive when looking for a good spot. If a starling gets to a good spot first, they easily defend it from other bird species. If the starling finds the cavity already occupied, it will often destroy eggs or kill nestlings of the other birds. This causes great problems for many of our native birds that nest in natural tree cavities or bird houses, such as Eastern Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Great Crested Flycatchers, House Wrens, and woodpeckers.

In Winter, starlings form huge flocks, sometimes in the thousands. Males usually outnumber females in these flocks. Starlings will also travel in mixed flocks with other species, including Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, Brown-headed Cowbirds, or American Robins. Flocking helps protect birds from predators; they are more likely to see a predator coming if there are more birds.

Predators of starlings include hawks, falcons, owls, snakes, cats, and other bird predators.

[Javaman]

2. +1 nt

[MadHound]

3. Judging by the look of the buildings in the video, it's a fairly new subdivision

Perhaps the birds are simply retaking territory that was once theirs

Out here in the country we have flocks like this every winter, truly an awe-inspiring sight. But since most of the land is crop land, bird poo is not a problem, and there is plenty of room for both humans and birds.