Mystery of Mass Bird and Fish Deaths
Flockalypse? Why did millions of black birds drop from the sky and fish wash up dead over New Years 2011? Was it a mere coincidence, what killed them and caused for so many 911 reports. Is this the end of the world, or just a lot of dead things ?
Flockalypse? Why did millions of black birds drop from the sky and fish wash up dead over New Years 2011? Was it a mere coincidence, what killed them and caused for so many 911 reports. Is this the end of the world, or just a lot of dead things ?
MORE VIDEO: Dead Birds Rain on US Town
---------------------------
Article Shared From NINEMSN News
(with video)
Thousands of birds that fell dead from the sky on New Year's Eve in the US most likely died after they were frightened by loud noises, a bird expert says.
Residents in Beebe, Arkansas were alarmed when blackbirds began dropping from the sky shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve, mysteriously piling up on homes and gardens.
A state ornithologist has found the redwing blackbirds suffered trauma injuries indicating they had flown into something, USA Today reports.
"The birds obviously hit something very hard and had hemorrhages," Arkansas Game and Fish Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said.
The state is also testing the birds to see if they were killed by chemicals or diseases.
Ms Rowe said those in the neighbourhood heard around 12 loud booming noises on New Year's Eve.
"They reported it sounding like a cannon on transformer exploding," she said.
State veterinarian George Badley said a resident saw a huge flock of frantic birds when he went outside to investigate the noises.
"He could hear the blackbirds fluttering around — he could hear their wings and he could hear them hitting into things," Badley said.
Blackbirds have poor night vision and they were likely killed because they banged into houses and trees in their fright.
The state is still investigating what caused the noises.
It is believed that the blackbird flock was frightened by the noises but would not fly up too high because of fireworks in the sky, Ms Rowe said.
"They were below the roof line, so they were hitting houses, mail boxes, chimneys and walls," Ms Rowe said.
Wildlife officers went to investigate reports that dead birds were falling from the sky at about 11pm on New Year's Eve.
"They told us there were birds falling out of the sky. After we verified that this wasn't some kind of prank, one of our wildlife officers went over there and sure enough, there were birds falling," the Game and Fish Commission's Keith Richards said.
Environmental Services officers picked up more than 2000 dead birds, mostly in the Windwood neighbourhood.
Mr Stephens said it was thought that more than 3000 birds died.
Redwing blackbirds are native to North America and tend to gather in large flocks during winter.
It was not a good weekend for wildlife in Arkansas.
Hundreds of thousands of fish were found dead in the Arkansas River about 200 kilometres away from Beebe a day before the birds were killed, KARK news reported.
Officials believe they were killed by disease because only one species — drum fish — was affected.
READ ARTICLE: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8191523
--------------------------
MORE VIDEO:
News Video | | Duration 1m 13s
The mystery of the recent mass bird death in Arkansas is spreading, with hundreds found in Louisiana and also Sweden.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/01/06/3107647.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment