Indiana: More than 80 juvenile starlings have died since May 18 - possibly poisoning

[Ronan Kelly]

6/26/2010 8:59:00 AM Email this article ? Print this article
Mystery illness kills young birds

Travis Sturgill
Courier Staff Writer

More than 80 juvenile starlings have died since May 18 in an Osgood neighborhood.

The dead birds have been sent to Purdue University's Diagnostic Lab to determine a cause of death, said Wayne Peace, Ripley County environmental health specialist.

"We've been waiting any day for the reports so we can know what killed them," Peace said. "We're hoping at any time to get a report back."

Peace said all of the birds that have died were juveniles, meaning that they were too young to be considered adult birds but were old enough to fly and leave the nest.
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Re: Indiana: More than 80 juvenile starlings have died since May 18 - possibly poisoning

This week, I've seen quite a few starling parents with their half-grown children. Even though the young ones are able to fly, they seem to persist in following the parents around, begging them for food. I would assume this is their way of learning where to find their food sources.

It seems kind of strange that just the young ones died.