Texas swarming with boozed-up birds

A bevy of migratory birds making their seasonal return to North Texas have raised eyebrows among residents after getting intoxicated on fermented berries.

As reported by UPI, cedar waxwings return to Texas at this time of year, and have been causing a commotion with their drunken antics.

There have been frequent sightings by residents in the Fort Worth area of drunk and disorderly cedar waxwings flying into windows.

“Because they predominantly eat berries, sometimes they eat berries that have fermented and are a little bit past their prime,” Rachel Richter, an urban wildlife biologist with the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, told WFAA-TV. “They tend to overindulge a little bit, which can get them intoxicated,” she added.

According to Richter it’s common for the birds to get a bit squiffy after gorging on fermented berries, and the more frequent sightings this year are probably due to a higher proportion of residents working from home and spotting them at it.

Cedar waxwings can be found in Texas from late December until April. The birds have large livers that can detoxify the ethanol in alcohol and prevent them from suffering any long-term ill effects from eating fermented berries.

This isn’t the first time we’ve reported on the mischievous creature. Back in 2014 they were founded to be getting drunk on frosty fermented berries in Canada.

According to the Journal of Ornithology, an entire flock of cedar waxwings fell to their untimely deaths in Los Angeles in 2006 and 2007 after feasting on bunches of fermented berries.