#1,000 birds flew into Philadelphia skyscrapers in just one day

More than 1,000 birds reportedly died or were injured after flying into skyscrapers in Philadelphia last Friday in what was described as a “catastrophic event.”

Weather conditions, coupled with normal migratory patterns, could be to blame for the horrifying occurrence within a section of the city’s Center City neighborhood, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

“So many birds were falling out of the sky, we didn’t know what was going on,” Stephen Maciejewski, a volunteer at Audubon Pennsylvania told the newspaper.

“It was a really catastrophic event. The last time something like this happened was in 1948.”

Maciejewski said in a three-hour span on Friday morning he collected 400 birds. By comparison, he retrieved no more than 32 birds in a single morning in the five days after the event.

“There were so many birds I ran out of supplies,” said Maciejewski, who lists each bird’s flight path, and time and location of impact.

Overall, it is believed that anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 birds hit buildings early Friday, the paper reported.

Cloud cover was low that day, according to the Inquirer, along with light rain. Those conditions could have caused the birds to fly lower.

At the same time, the paper reported, migratory birds from up north were passing through en route to warmer climates.