Tippi Hedren, © 1963 Universal Pictures Company, Inc.

Could you help me understand why at 8:15 p.m. until 9 p.m. swarms of birds are around East Third Street and East Second Street.  I was sitting on the porch of a house near East Third Street and Chestnut when I witnessed this.  It apparently has been happening at least a month.   Anyone who happens to be a resident, pedestrian or motorist in the area at the time will have bird droppings to contend with.  It actually looks like a scene from the movie The Birds.  At around 9 p.m. after they have swarmed around like they are rabid, they perch in the trees and you can hear a massive chirping.  Help! Why is this happening???

Brainard Palmer-Ball, biologist with the Kentucky Nature Preserve, speculates that the birds are probably blackbirds or starlings. Earlier in the summer, Lexington had a “roost ring” of purple martins, but they have likely broken up by now. Blackbirds and starlings will be gathering in leafy trees until September. As the weather cools, those birds will begin to roost in pine trees or other trees with needles. Those birds roost communally as a normal part of their bird behavior, not in attempt to gather forces and attack.

Palmer-Ball also points out that groups of roosting birds are occasionally visible on Nexrad radar.

Filed under: Lexington info