More than 500 quail as well as several other types of birds have been seized from a Springfield home.
The city's Code Enforcement division seized the birds from a home in the city's Sixteen Acres neighborhood on Wednesday and took them to a city shelter.
Pam Peebles, director of the Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, says the flock included nine pheasants, six chickens, two pigeons and a parrot.
Some had to be euthanized but the rest will be taken to the MSPCA's Nevins Farm in Methuen.
The homeowner voluntarily surrendered the birds and does not face charges.
Peebles did not know why the homeowner was keeping the birds, but speculates it was a hobby or for food.
Neighbors say they never noticed anything unusual about the home.
