Deluge of turtle doves 'caused by indigestion'

A THOUSAND turtle doves that rained down from the sky were killed by massive indigestion brought on by over eating, the director of an Italian zoological institute has said.

The bodies of the birds, which also had a mysterious blue tinge to their beaks, have been picked up for the last week in what is the latest in a global phenomenon. The incident comes after similar cases in the United States where thousands of blackbirds fell from the sky, while in Sweden fifty jackdaws were found dead.

In Italy the birds were found at Faenza close to Ravenna and tests have been carried out on the bodies for the last week with official results due today.

However yesterday Rodolfo Ridolfi, a director at the regional zoological institute, said: "We are fairly confident the birds died as a result of massive indigestion."