77 Million.

This is coolbert:

77 million blackbirds can't be right!

Thanks to the tip from Jungle Trader.

"Rome plagued by starlings"

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do - these days, that means hide under an umbrella. Millions of starlings have converged on the Italian capital, and their droppings are not only a nuisance, they're a health hazard."

Droppings of the birds a health hazard, spreaders of disease, congregations of the starlings in what is best described as biblical proportions creating a terrible mess.

From almost exactly four decades ago [Jan. 1976] now a similar problem with remedy as reported by the Observer-Reporter. That problem with remedy both having a military dimension.

An avian invasion what were called "blackbirds" in prodigious numbers posing a distinct threat to the military personnel of Ft. Campbell Kentucky, USA. A DANGER TO ARMY PERSONNEL, DEPENDENTS AND ARMY AVIATION ALL!!

That solution THE BIRDS DOUSED WITH A DETERGENT SPRAY DURING THEIR NIGHTLY ROOSTS, THAT OILY INSULATING QUALITY OF THE FEATHERS INEFFECTIVE, THE BIRDS FREEZING TO DEATH! A SPRAY AS DELIVERED BY HELICOPTER. [I am not sure if these were military or civilian choppers delivering the "death mix".]

"WASHINGTON (AP)  - - congress approved a bill Tuesday [1976] designed to authorize the immediate extermination of millions of blackbirds roosting in the vicinity of fort Campbell, Ky."

". . . legislation would lit legal restrictions n the use of a chemical detergent on the estimated 77 million blackbirds and starlings within a 100-mile radius of the Army installation"

"The chemical, sprayed on roosts from aircraft, washes off protective oils on the birds' feathers. if it is below 45 degrees [F], the birds . . . die."

Mass extermination!! Again measures of a biblical scale, cruel but necessary.

coolbert.