Anglesey starlings 'died from trauma'

Hundreds of Common Starlings which were found dead on a road died due to trauma from impact with the ground, preliminary findings have indicated.

Some 225 starlings were found dead on a lane on Anglesey on 11 December. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is continuing its investigation, but it is unclear why the birds plunged to the ground.

It is thought the Common Starlings died as a result of mass trauma (North Wales Police).

Dafydd Edwards, whose partner found the birds, said it was as if "they had dropped down dead from the sky". North Wales Police said it believed it had an explanation into the deaths on Wednesday.

DEFRA added it had investigated several incidents of mass mortality in groups of starlings previously. It said testing for bird flu was negative.

Starling expert Professor Anne Goodenough, from the University of Gloucestershire, said one theory was the birds had been taking part in a mass murmuration and had been disorientated by sun reflected from a wet road.

"You could have had quite a lot of glare from that, that could have potentially confused the birds," she said. "We know that can happen to birds, so we get swans and geese, for example, crash landing onto solar panels because they look like lakes.

"So that kind of almost visual hallucination can occur – whether that is the case here, we don't know."