What happended here??

Hi all, yes this was very unusual to hear about as what i suspect is a freak accident. Any toxicology reports (which apparently weren't carried out by RSPCA - birds are hopefully to be analysed by VLA within a week or so) would (I expect) come back clear. Especially with regard to some of the suggestions that the birds were perhaps "drunk" from eating fermented berries or poisoning would mean they simply wouldn't take to the wing in the first place.  I'm certain that the explanation will more than likely be that the birds were either spooked by a raptor or low flying aircraft/turbulence perhaps. As mentioned, when starlings fly in a murmuration, they keep watch on their nearest neighbours and will therefore not necessarily be aware of much else around them, evolution means they simply don't collide knocking each other out the sky - EVER. When they are spooked they will often dive to cover/roosts much as they would when gathering in trees or reedbeds. I can see how this could be described as "falling from the sky". They couldn't of collided with anything in the air as they wouldn't of all hit such a small area as a single garden. Basically, I suspect they were made jittery by an aircraft or predator and dived for cover - seeing residential buildings, windows, reflections or glare they flew full tilt into the ground sustaining the physical injuries described by the RSPCA. However, it is one of these where it's easy to speculate but more information is needed to be any more conclusive. CheersL