Thousands of birds make crash landing in Utah

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ST. GEORGE - Thousands of migrating birds crashed throughout Southern Utah late Monday night, resulting in a marathon rescue and collection effort that is still underway.

"They're just everywhere," said Teresa Griffin, wildlife program manager for the Utah Department of Wildlife Resource's southern region. "It's been nonstop. All our employees are driving around picking them up and we've got so many people coming to our office and dropping them off."

Wildlife officials said thousands of grebes - a duck-like aquatic bird - were likely migrating toward Mexico and probably mistook the parking lot of the Cedar City Walmart and other areas as far south as Anderson's Junction for bodies of water. Thinking they were landing to rest atop a pond or lake, the grebes plummeted to the ground.

"The storm clouds over the top of the city lights made it look like a nice, flat body of water. All the conditions were right," Griffin said. "So the birds landed to rest, but ended up slamming into the pavement."

While there were no reports of property damage or human injuries, Griffin said the event was unlike anything she had seen before in her professional career.

"I've been here 15 years and this was the worst downing I've seen," she said. "Most of the downings I've seen have been pretty localized, but this was very widespread."

Though thousands of the birds were killed, officials said they began collecting survivors around 12 a.m. Tuesday and had rescued more than 2,000 as of Tuesday evening.

The surviving birds were released in unfrozen bodies of water in Washington County, mainly Stratton Pond near Hurricane.

"It's close, it's isolated and it doesn't freeze," said DWR Southern Region Outreach Manager Lynn Chamberlain. "If we can put them on a body of water that's not frozen over they'll have a better chance of survival."

Cedar City resident Stephen Gwin was among the volunteers who worked all night and into the day helping DWR officials gather the surviving birds. A wildlife enthusiast with an environmental biology degree, Gwin saw the effort as an opportunity to learn and help animals.

"I have never in my life encountered such a thing," he said. "I've heard of fish die-offs and other strange natural phenomenon, but I've never experienced one before. It was very strange, but very fun."

He added that he probably collected close to 100 birds since he began pitching in around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

"I had never seen (a grebe) up close and I didn't know that much about them," he said. "It brought it all home to me - I've seen this on T.V. and now I'm living it."

Griffin said that people like Gwin have been tremendously helpful in the collection process, adding that the DWR will continue to need their help to gather the remaining birds in the coming days.

"The volunteer effort in the community has been amazing," she said. "People have been wonderful."

People who find any remaining grebes are urged to call the DWR's Cedar City office at 435-865-6100 or drop the birds off at 1470 N. Airport Road in Cedar City.

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