Wichita ? Exxon Mobil Corp. has been charged with violating a law that protects migratory birds.

The Justice Department charged the company Thursday with a misdemeanor that alleges the company unlawfully killed migratory birds, including three owls.

The government alleges the birds died after coming into contact with hydrocarbons at tanks in Kearney, Stevens and Morton counties in Kansas.

Jim Cross, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said the Kansas case is one of several similar cases being filed across the country. The work is coordinated by the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Unit. The cases will likely be consolidated and prosecuted in one district.

Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Margaret Ross said that the company has a program that includes various technologies to deter birds. She says it works under the industry’s highest standards of environmental management.