Thousands of Blackbirds Fell from the Sky Over Arkansas on New Year’s Eve

January 3rd, 2011

Update: Now There Are 500 Dead Birds in Louisiana

Via: WBRZ:

Around 500 dead blackbirds and starlings have been found in Pointe Coupee Parish, according to state wildlife officials.

The birds were spotted lying in roads and ditches near Labarre Elementary School. The community is between Morganza and New Roads on Highway 10.

Scientists from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries have been sent out to collect samples, which will be sent for testing to the University of Georgia and National Wildlife Center in Wisconsin.

—End Update—

Update: Cause of Death for the Birds: “Acute Physical Trauma Leading to Internal Hemorrhage”

Possibly Related: Sonic Weapon:

Cavitation, which affects gas nuclei in human tissue, and heating can result from exposure to ultrasound and can cause damage to tissue and organs.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission server is not responding, see the Google cache of the information.

Via: Arkansas Game and Fish Commission:

Results from preliminary testing released today by the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission Veterinary Diagnostic Lab show that red-winged blackbirds died from massive trauma on New Year’s Eve.

The trauma was primarily in breast tissue, with blood clots in the body cavity and internal bleeding. All major organs were normal and the birds appeared to be healthy. Gizzards and stomachs of the birds were empty.

According to the report, “Further tests will be done to rule out other causes, but the birds suffered from acute physical trauma leading to internal hemorrhage and death. There was no sign of any chronic or infectious disease.”

It’s not apparent what caused the bird’s unusual behavior, although loud noises were reported shortly before the birds began to fall from the sky. Blackbirds have poor night vision and do not typically fly at night.

Beginning at about 11:30 p.m., Dec. 31, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife officers received reports of blackbirds falling from the sky in a square-mile area of Beebe. It’s estimated that up to 5,000 birds fell before midnight. Most of the birds were dead, but some were alive when officers arrived.

The AGFC flew over the area in a helicopter to gauge the scope of the event. No dead birds were found outside of the initial area of fallen birds.

—End Update—

Related?: Dead Fish Cover 20-Miles of Arkansas River

Via: Today’s THV:

Arkansas Game & Fish is trying to figure out why 100,000 fish in Northwest Arkansas turned up dead. They were found along a 20-mile stretch between the Ozark Dam and Highway 109 Bridge in Franklin County.

The 20-mile stretch along the Arkansas River where an estimated 100,000 drum fish were found washed ashore and floating looks much different now.

Keith Stephens with Game and Fish explains, “We got a call last week from a tug boat operator that found the fish out on the river along the bank, in the river channel and we immediately dispatched somebody to the area to take a look.”

Investigators from local and state agencies took samples from the affected area. Stephens says fish kills occur every year, but the magnitude of this one is unusual, and disease could be the cause.

—End Update—

1000? 2000? 5000?

The count is all over the place on this one.

Via: National Post:

With their vague allusions to Biblical plagues and a classic Hitchcock movie, flocks of dead birds falling from the sky make for an especially gripping whodunnit.

So it was in Beebe, Arkansas, as midnight approached on New Year’s Eve, when thousands of redwing blackbirds and at least one duck plummeted to Earth for no obvious reason.

Within just a few minutes over about a kilometer and a half, it was raining birds; they fell onto houses and lawns,
dead as Monty Python’s Norwegian Blue parrot.

A wildlife officer responding to an emergency call reported that he arrived on the scene as birds were still falling around him, some of them still alive.

By daybreak, teams of workers in hazardous materials suits had been dispatched to stoop and scoop from lawns and roofs, and to save some carcasses for autopsies.

Residents watched from windows and kept children and dogs indoors, fearful of viruses or toxins.

“This is the only bird I have seen alive,” said a local television reporter, squatting on a Beebe sidewalk beside a disoriented looking warbler.

“He seems to be injured, just walking in circles and not making any sounds, and he can’t fly,” she said, before cutting to footage of 10 live birds perched in a tree.

Several dozen of the Arkansas carcasses were sent for autopsies, which begin on Monday.

Posted in Environment | Top Of Page

7 Responses to “Thousands of Blackbirds Fell from the Sky Over Arkansas on New Year’s Eve”

  1. brandon says:

    I think this will eventually be grouped with all the dying micro biologists.

  2. LoneWolf says:

    Ironically there was a big bird die off in downtown Austin, Texas of the first week of 2007.
    Near the capital building.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0836291520070109

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16524779/ns/us_news-life/

    At the time I toyed with the idea of GWB playing with HAARP as well. To get back at the town that he lived as governor. People here were not quiet about their opinions of him.

  3. Crates says:

    Meanwhile, 125 miles from Beebe, 100,000 drum fish die off. Only drum fish, nothing else.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/03/national/main7208349.shtml

  4. Eileen says:

    Think this has to be HAARP or something related.
    Killer tornadoes in Arkansas in December, earthquakes in Utah?
    @LoneWolf – I beieve in your GWB thoughts re HAARP. But what the fluck is this now?
    Me thinks the world is starting to warp under all of oil sucking chasms created thereby. Must make loud noises only birds and fishes can hear. I can only hope those critters didn’t die a painful death.
    Truly disturbing.

  5. LykeX says:

    Happened in Sweden too:
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40921795/ns/us_news-environment/

    I wonder if this is something that happens all the time, but is not normally reported.

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