Berry Binge Proves Fatal for Robins / More than 100 birds get drunk and die on grounds of Santa Rosa school

1999-01-12 04:00:00 PDT SANTA ROSA -- When a flock of robins devoured some fermented berries during the weekend in Santa Rosa, the consequences were a lot more serious than just a hangover.

The bodies of about 125 robins were found scattered on the grounds of a Santa Rosa elementary school in a case of suspected avian alcohol poisoning.

Three robins that recuperated from the Saturday night binge were released yesterday back into the wild. Those members of a flock that migrated to Sonoma County from snow country in Washington or Oregon were eager to be set free.

"They were ready to rock 'n' roll. They had slept it off, I guess," said Forrest Templin of the Humane Society of Sonoma County.

Two birds brought in yesterday, weighing about 90 grams each, were gradually recovering in warming cages at the nonprofit Bird Rescue Center. Experts there pinpointed the fermented pyracantha and other seasonal red berries as possible culprits, mentioning the purple stains on the birds' beaks.

The revelry proved fatal for most of the robins and seven cedar waxwings. The state Department of Fish and Game will conduct toxicology tests on the birds, which are presumed to have gorged on grape compost or juicy, overripe berries still hanging on bushes in the dry winter.

"Colloquially speaking, they went on a toot with all this alcohol," said Martha Bentley, 80, of the Bird Rescue Center.

Added Templin, "We're not 100 percent positive, but the most logical explanation is an overdose of berries -- these birds got too drunk."

Given the cold snap, any drunken birds that fell from the liquidambar trees near the elementary school died when they hit the ground or shortly afterward.

Neighbors, baffled at the sight of the frozen birds Sunday morning, called the Humane Society, which alerted police and Proctor Terrace School Principal Darryl L. Rawls.

"My first fear was foul play or fertilization was the cause. If birds were dying, could the cause kill kids?," Rawls said.

All the birds were collected before the children arrived at school yesterday.

Bentley recalled a similar episode in 1993 north of Healdsburg, when a flock of starlings overdosed on a vineyard spread with the grape waste. Volunteers were alerted to the possible cause after several "dead drunk" red-tailed hawks, which had consumed the starlings, were brought into the sanctuary.

The only preventive measure Bentley could suggest was to irrigate any grape compost so that the fermented skins and seeds would wash into the soil.