3D MESSENGER INQUIRER, Owentboro, Oct. 6, 1978 Blackbirds still a problem i i coordinate the state's efforts in its battle against the birds. Coburn Gayle, director of the Division of Pest and Noxious Weed Control, said Kentucky actually got off pretty light last winter. "We had about 5.8 million birds, compared with 50 million in Tennessee," Gayle said. "But it's hard to predict what we will have this winter.
I think a lot of what happens will depend on the weather." Gayle said he felt the freezing temperatures drove the birds farther south last winter. "I'm sure the weather had more influence than we did," Gayle said.