Dozens of corellas are believed to have been poisoned after animal rescuers found more than 60 "falling out of the sky" near an Adelaide primary school.

Key points: The corellas were found near a primary school in Adelaide's north

The corellas were found near a primary school in Adelaide's north They were taken to a nearby vet, who says they were "likely poisoned"

They were taken to a nearby vet, who says they were "likely poisoned" The cause of death is being investigated by RSPCA SA and Biosecurity SA

The birds were found dead or dying near One Tree Hill Primary School, in Adelaide's north, on Wednesday.

Both long-billed corellas — which is a protected species in South Australia — and short-billed corellas were among those found.

A volunteer from Casper's Bird Rescue who went to investigate reports of the dead birds called for help when about 60 corellas were found either dead or dying in the area.

Casper's Bird Rescue founder Sarah King said she did not believe any of the birds had survived.

"I got a phone call from that carer quite distressed saying they are literally everywhere falling out of the trees, falling out of the sky," she told ABC Adelaide.

"It was obvious then that it was a bit more of a situation than we thought … from my understanding none have survived.

"We can only speculate at this time, we can only go on what we're seeing … visually it looks like the birds have been poisoned."

More than 60 corellas were found by the rescuers. ( Facebook: Caspers Bird Rescue )

Ms King said the animal rescuers had contacted the local council to make sure it was not responsible, and it said only herbicides were used that were not dangerous for wildlife.

One Tree Hill Primary School posted on social media following the find and said there were "no survivors" out of the birds collected.

"The children in vacation care were very upset at the scene of birds falling from the sky and in pain, with blood coming out of their mouths," the Facebook post said.

"The children were so caring and wanted to make sure the birds were getting some help."

Vet says birds were 'likely poisoned'

The birds were taken to a vet in Para Hills, where Trudy Seidel attempted to treat them.

Long-billed corellas are a protected species in SA. ( Andrew Silcocks )

She said she also suspected the birds had been poisoned.

"It's very distressing for all the staff that have been dealing with it and of course for Sarah [King] and the children who saw it in the first place," Dr Seidel told ABC Adelaide.

"We're guessing it's some sort of poison.

"The crops on a couple of birds that we did open up after they passed away showed that they were full of grain but we don't have any toxicology to know that's for sure.

"We've also contacted Biosecurity South Australia so that they are being tested for any sort of exotic diseases to make sure that it's not that, but more than likely they have been poisoned."

She said quite a few of the birds that had come through had blood on their beaks and the vets were unsure if that was due to the poison or falling to the ground.

"These birds, whoever has done it, they have been left to die a horrible, miserable and very distressful death," she said.



Dr Seidel said the cause of death would be investigated by RPSCA South Australia and Biosecurity SA.