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A crow perched atop a light pole on Southwest Fourth Avenue in downtown Portland on Wednesday morning.

(Dave Killen/The Oregonian)

UPDATE: Audubon Society investigating mysterious crow die-off, fears poisoning

Portland police and firefighters were called Wednesday morning to investigate a mass die-off of crows in parts of downtown.

Just after 8 a.m., callers reported several dead or seizing birds around the area of Southwest Third Avenue and Columbia. Responders found about 30 dead birds, mostly in downtown parks.

Some were found on the ground alive but shaking, then appeared to recover, said Portland Fire Bureau Lt. Damon Simmons.

The cause of the deaths was unclear. The Fire Bureau was monitoring for possible environmental threats that could affect humans, but detected nothing.

"It's hard to say what the cause was," Simmons said, "But at this point we can say there's no harm to people."

The Audubon Society would be following up, police said.

People who come across dead crows in Portland parks should not move them and should call the park ranger hotline at (503) 823-1637.

-- Elliot Njus