Oklahoma Wakes Up to Hundreds of Birds Dead in the Street

Hundreds of birds have been found dead or injured in Oklahoma after severe storms in the state.

Wildlife rehabilitation center WildCare Oklahoma said on Facebook that it has had reports of hundreds of purple martins "downed along the shopping area north of I-40 between MacArthur Boulevard and N Rockwell in Oklahoma City."

Purple martins are small members of the swallow family that can be found across temperate North America. Oklahoma has been battered with storms in recent days, and the severe weather has caused extreme flooding in several areas.

Dr. Kyle Abbott, medical director at WildCare Oklahoma, said in a video posted to Facebook on July 9 that there have been 112 birds affected by the storms admitted into the facility.

Purple martins gather in big groups at the end of their breeding season. This is why, when severe weather hits, there are so many injuries, with the first drove of birds arriving at WildCare Oklahoma on Sunday morning. Photos shared to Facebook show the injured purple martins that were brought into the facility for treatment.

"Purple martins rescued by a caring and compassionate individual from a Walmart parking this morning," a caption to one photo reads.

Abbott told local news outlet KFOR that, when there is a large hailstorm, it can cause unfortunate damage to the small birds. Many adult purple martins have been admitted with fractures, which, Abbott said on Facebook, are likely the ones found on the ground following the storms.

WildCare Oklahoma is also receiving juveniles, but some of these are fine. This is likely due to them staying with their parents injured on the ground. Abbott said that, along with all the birds he is treating, he is expecting many more purple martins to be coming in. "We have to do as much as we can for every individual," Abbott said in the video.

"Everyone of the adults have had pretty severe trauma [...] This is an atypical event. But it's one of the things here in Oklahoma that we get to experience with the severe weather. We have amazing wildlife, so we have strong, big purple-martin colonies. When one gets hit by a storm, this is unfortunately what we have," Abbott said.

He told the news outlet that, although WildCare Oklahoma workers have seen incidents like this before, this was the worst event he has witnessed at the facility. "It's very unfortunate," the medical director added.

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