If birds that feed on winter berries in the Northern Hemisphere seem to be painting the town red, it could be because they’re intoxicated. Alcohol forms in berries as they ferment with the first frosts, and the birds that gorge on these winter fruits may get drunk more often than we think, scientists say. (See National Geographic’s backyard bird identifier.)
“Most birds likely just get a bit tipsy, and very few people would be able to pick them out as intoxicated,” said Meghan Larivee, laboratory coordinator at the government agency Environment Yukon in Canada. “However, every now and then, some birds just overdo it.”
Such was the case with several Bohemian waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus) that flew into Whitehorse, Yukon, this fall, and ended up in “drunk tanks” after bingeing on fermented berries of the rowan tree.
The birds were admitted to the territory’s Animal Health Unit, a wildlife facility equipped with modified hamster cages in readiness for the influx of berry-seeking migrants.
While there’s no Breathalyzer for birds, it’s pretty clear the waxwings were flying under the influence, according to Larivee.
“They cannot coordinate their flight movements properly or at all, and they are unable to walk in a coordinated way,” she said in an email. (Photograph by RIA Novosti, Alamy)
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