The birds it's about a dozen I think. Sounds like poisoning- they were found in the road, so they ate poisoned roadkill or someone dropped something from a moving vehicle perhaps. To what purpose I don't know.
I heard on Fox there were up to 60 dead birds in Austin.
Experts at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society said the most likely cause was a deliberate poisoning of the troublesome grackles, which is more common than people think. It's also legal, with local permits, said Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation at the Audubon in Washington.
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/01/08/ap/us/d8mh9nvg1.txt