IN recent winters mass deaths of flocking wild birds, popularly termed ‘aflockalypses’, usually caused by adverse weather or in-flight trauma, have made the news. With winter commencing, the time when passerine flocking and communal roosting usually occurs, it seems appropriate to mention a flock mass mortality incident in the UK, which caused some public concern and was potentially dangerous to drivers. This was investigated by the AHVLA Diseases of Wildlife Scheme, a national programme set up by Defra in 1998 to investigate disease and mortality in wildlife. In the incident, in February 2011, 88 starlings ( Sturnus vulgaris ) were submitted from a busy trunk road …