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Police there say that there is no need to worry, the birds are just a little drunk.
No, the city's birds do not eat worm-flavored margaritas. Techar thinks that their confused state is due to the consumption of berries that fermented earlier than usual because of an early frost.
"Many birds have not migrated south, which seems to be more prevalent than in recent years," he said. "The livers of the youngest birds can not handle toxins as effectively as more mature birds."
Is it true? Are the birds really drunk?
Yes, said Anna Pidgeon, associate professor in the Department of Forest Ecology and Wildlife of the University of Wisconsin, who noted that this phenomenon was not uncommon.
"It's more typical in late winter, early spring, when the berries that were planted on the branches ferment because of the yeast that they contain," she said. declared.
Blackbirds and cedar waxes mainly depend on fruit and are more likely to "get drunk," Pidgeon said. (Yes, that's really his name.)
Getting drunk can be very dangerous for them, she said.
"(They) lose their coordination, they lose their natural ability to escape predators – including a lack of judgment in flying."
Birds can also be intoxicated by alcohol.
Pidgeon recommends that anyone who finds a wetting bird place this place in a dark, safe place, such as a shed or cardboard box, until he or she recovers and can fly without bumping. Pulling blinds can also help protect confused birds who may be trying to fly through the windows, she said.
In the course of mass migrations, naive young birds often face windows, suffer concussions or break their necks. That, says Pidgeon, is the biggest problem.
"Compared to other sources of bird mortality, alcohol intoxication is not a huge risk," she said. "It's very short term."
Expert: No, it has more to do with migration
But Laura Erickson, author of "The National Geographic Pocket Guide to Birds of North America," said that most people that we see in northern Minnesota are not at all people. birds in a state of drunkenness.
She said that she had received hundreds of calls and emails from people who said they saw birds running in cars and homes. But none of these birds, says Erickson, was of the fruit-eating kind.
Instead, she says, they are yellow-rumped warblers and sparrows migrating into Minnesota. Until now, this fall, the state has witnessed a particularly intense influx of birds, flying closer to the ground in search of food, she said.
"There may be drunk birds in Gilbert, but this migration is so prevalent right now," said Erickson, who lives in Minnesota. "This is precisely the time of year when we record our maximum migration of sparrows and yellow-rumped warblers."
But what about the poor drunk birds of Gilbert?
Techar, the chief of police, said he was not alarmed. The birds are just going to sleep.
"It's not necessary to call the police on these birds," he said, "as they should sober up in a short amount of time".
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