Puzzle as 1,000 dead birds fall from sky
Wildlife officials in the US are trying to determine what caused more than 1,000 blackbirds to die and fall from the sky over an Arkansas town.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said it began receiving reports about the dead birds in Beebe, 40 miles from Little Rock, at about 11:30pm on Friday night. The birds fell an an area of about a mile and an aerial survey indicated that no dead birds were found outside that area.
Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said the birds showed signs of physical trauma and speculated that “the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail”.
The commission said New Year’s Eve revellers setting off fireworks in the area could have startled the birds from their roost and caused them to die from stress.
Robby King, a wildlife officer for the agency, collected about 65 dead birds, which will be sent for testing to the state Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Centre lab in Wisconsin.
Ms Rowe said that similar events have occurred elsewhere and test results “usually were inconclusive”. She said she doubted the birds were poisoned.
