Woodcocks dying in Chicago while migrating

CHICAGO, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Experts suspect a frigid north wind may be causing a number of woodcocks to crash into Chicago buildings during the birds' annual migration.

Annette Prince, Chicago Bird Collision Monitors director, said dozens of the migrating birds have either died or become dazed after striking area buildings and towers, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday.

Prince, whose group is attempting to save the apparently confused birds, said the incidents are representative of an increasing woodcock population in Chicago.

"They've really just been turning up all over the place," she said. "They're mostly hidden in the woods, but in the last week, you probably could have found them all around Chicago."

David Willard, the Field Museum's collection manager for birds, told the Sun-Times last week's sudden burst of strong cold air from the north may have forced so many woodcocks to flee the area that confusion set in.

"It seems there's been one major pulse of them passing through all at once," he said.