Berries are making birds drunk say British vets
British vet says that fermented berries are intoxicating young birds and causing mid-air collisions.
British vets say that fermented wild berries have been intoxicating young birds.
An incident involving over a dozen dead birds last year in the UK was found to be caused by alcohol rather than avian flu as previously suspected.
Autopsies of the birds showed that they had been eating rotten rowan – a kind of shiny berry that grows in bushes.
The rowan had become pure alcohol in their systems, which had likely made them crash land after a wobby flight, said the Telegraph.
The one bird found alive was so intoxicated that it could barely walk and leaned on walls for support.
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Apparently, the bird also suffered a massive hangover over a few days after the berry consumption.
LiveScience reported that this is not the first report of drunken birds.
Another British study noted redwings falling out of holly trees.
The findings were published in the British Medical Journal’s Veterinary Record.
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