While scientists and specialists are investigating why massive numbers of birds have dropped dead from the sky elsewhere in the country, Sonoma County now has its own bird deaths mystery to solve, reported the CHP.
More than 100 birds were found dead Saturday afternoon clustered on the ground off of Highway 101, south of Geyserville, Officer Jon Sloat reported Monday.
Officers responded to Independence Lane at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday and found dozens of birds dead on and around the roadway.
The California Department of Fish and Game was notified and a local warden responded. He took several of the birds away to be identified and tested by a biologist, Sloat said.
The birds all appeared to be the same type, small with feathers in brown and black, according to photos taken by officers.
The birds hadn't been shot and most were intact, officers reported.
What caused the deaths wasn't clear Saturday.
Immediate attempts to reach Fish and Game were not successful.
One theory was that the birds were hit by a semi truck, but that was just speculation and perhaps unlikely given the large number of birds, officers reported.
Much larger cases of birds dying at the same time have occurred recently in Arkansas and Louisiana.
On New Year's Eve as many as 5,000 red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky in Central Arkansas.
More recently, about 500 birds were found in Pointe Coupee Parish in Louisiana, about 300 miles from the Arkansas bird deaths.
Scientists and wildlife officials are attempting to determine what happened.
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