Dozens of birds fall from the sky like 'a horror movie.' They were poisoned, experts say
Nearly 60 dying birds fell from the sky in Australia last week, leaving witnesses horrified.
Sarah King, founder of local nonprofit Casper's Bird Rescue in Adelaide, a city in southern Australia, was contacted by a member of her staff who discovered corella birds falling out of nearby trees and the sky.
A few were dead on sight. The rest, she told the Guardian, were screaming in pain with blood gushing out of their eyes and beaks.
"What we were seeing was something out of a horror movie,” she said to the Guardian.
King suspected poisoning of the birds, as the short-billed species of corella — a type of cockatoo — is a known pest in Australia. They are known to kill crops and damage power lines.
"The birds weren't able to fly and were lying on the ground wailing in pain," King told the BBC. "Some birds were bleeding out of their mouth. That immediately made us think of poisoning, which we've seen before."
The long-billed corella is a protected species, and individuals who kill them could receive jail time and fines.
Veterinarians were forced to euthanize the corella birds that hadn't already died.
Government officials did not confirm the birds' cause of death, as the necropsies are pending.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Corella birds in Australia fall from sky after alleged poisoning
