Burned birds recovering after someone threw their houses into firepit

TITUSVILLE — The surviving five birds rescued from five bird houses pushed into a fire continue to recover from their injuries.

Diane Nickerson, director of the Mercer County Wildlife Center, said the purple Martins were in bird house atop poles at the St. Michael's Farm Preserve in Hopewell. The poles were part of a colony that is supposed to attract even more birds.

The houses were found in a fire pit in a picnic area along with some more Martins that died in the flames.

"I really hope this was part of a prank," Nickerson said.

Hopewell Police have not made an arrest and called the incident "disturbing."

Nickerson said the birds have a voracious appetite for meal worms and go through 60 worms an hour for 12 hours a day. Over the past 15 days alone, they've gone through roughly 54,000 worms.

Donations for worms can be made on the donation page of the Wildlife Center's website.

Hopewell Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call 609-737-3100.

The Associated Press contributed to this report