Latest text from local paper:
"Congress Avenue from Cesar Chavez to 11th Street is closed this morning after authorities discovered a dozen dead birds in the area. Workers in downtown office buildings along Congress will not be allowed in the area until about noon, authorities said.
Austin police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said authorities received a call about 3 a.m. this morning about the birds in a two-to-four block area on Congress.
Austin fire officals responded and began collecting samples from the birds. “What they are doing is some follow-up testing to see if there is anything we need to worry about,” Chovanetz said. “At this point it is strictly precautionary. We want to make sure there is nothing in the air, the water, the buildings before we let people in.”
Austin-Travis County Medical Serices officials said no one was injured in the incident."
Local radio station said "dozens", this site says "a dozen". I typically don't trust the local Pravda/Austin Statesman newspaper but who knows.
I also heard earlier that there were "dozens" of dead birds, rather than a dozen. I don't trust the local paper either.
Well, if it was grackles, a dozen wouldn't even make a small dent in them..I hate grackles. They have been decimating my pecan crops the last several years, despite my waging a firecracker war upon them.
What a strange story...
I suppose if it really were some kind of poison gas or whatnot there'd be some human casualties as well. But it's good that such a thing raises an alert to check things out.
Birds will sometimes fly right into mirrored windows of buildings. I've never seen it, but I wonder if it is possible for a whole group of them flying together to just up and smack into a building. Flying in formation has its risks...
Curious, though.