birds dying
- Thread starter Jena
- Start date
i agree just finished reading the article, some 800 fish died also?? its' crazy. and apparently all blackbirds mostly? since when have birds gotten confused and throw by fireworks that their crashing into electrical wires?? what are ppl there saying about it? they claimed it happened somewhere else also
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HaoZi
Guest
Trauma describes the physical damage that killed them (like crashing into each other or objects, as opposed to a massive West Nile die off), but not how that trauma occurred. The fish were 83k drum fish, the only species noted, so illness that is species-specific is not out of the question.
Two previous (though smaller) bird kills in AK were verified to have been caused by lightning.
Two previous (though smaller) bird kills in AK were verified to have been caused by lightning.
H
HaoZi
Guest
A big enough group of birds (or any animal, including humans) packed into one small area, that are suddenly panicked... yep, wouldn't surprise me a bit. Especially an animal that has poor eyesight, as this particular species did. Considering these birds are considered a nuisance where there are, it wouldn't surprise me if someone set off a huge firework to scare them off and got more clean-up than they intended.
ThreeShadows
Quid me anxia?
For those of you having trouble sleeping tonight:
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v077n03/p0217-p0228.pdf
Please note that Arkansas winter roosts of blackbirds (in the mid-fifties to mid-sixties)
could number in the millions.
My job here is done, lol!
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v077n03/p0217-p0228.pdf
Please note that Arkansas winter roosts of blackbirds (in the mid-fifties to mid-sixties)
could number in the millions.
My job here is done, lol!
Marguerite
Active Member
If a flock is in plague proportions and gets startled on take-off, you could get a high kill rate. But wouldn't someone have noticed that big a flock of blackbirds?
I've seen a plague-sized flock when I was a kid - it was galahs (aka pink and grey cockatoo). I was a teenager driving with my parents to visit my brother who lived out past wheat country. It was harvest time, there were huge piles of grain which were being loaded into trucks. Some spills were being cleaned up by galahs, plus when trucks cornered on the road more grain was spilled. The fields were pink and grey, wall-to-wall birds. So was the road. As we drove though it didn't matter how slowly you went, you hit birds. Some of them were too full to take off. Others had no room to take off. Many collided in mid-air. The ground was littered with dead galahs.
I could believe fireworks could be responsible, but it would have to be a fairly dense flock of birds to begin with.
Marg
I've seen a plague-sized flock when I was a kid - it was galahs (aka pink and grey cockatoo). I was a teenager driving with my parents to visit my brother who lived out past wheat country. It was harvest time, there were huge piles of grain which were being loaded into trucks. Some spills were being cleaned up by galahs, plus when trucks cornered on the road more grain was spilled. The fields were pink and grey, wall-to-wall birds. So was the road. As we drove though it didn't matter how slowly you went, you hit birds. Some of them were too full to take off. Others had no room to take off. Many collided in mid-air. The ground was littered with dead galahs.
I could believe fireworks could be responsible, but it would have to be a fairly dense flock of birds to begin with.
Marg
klmno
Active Member
I thought I heard there were two locations where birds died in high numbers suddenly. I'm not positive though if that was birds in one area and fish in another or birds in one area and birds and fish both in aanother. Anyway, this morning they said there were thousands of birds that died. A vet on tv from that area was on the news yesterday and he said they have fireworks there every New Years so it does seem odd that this is the first time so many birds died as a result, since they are there in high numbers every winter too.
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HaoZi
Guest
"The whole sky turns black every morning and every night," -Shane Roberts, local resident.
Considering they have left piles of droppings ankle to knee depth in places, they've been noticed and they're nothing new in that area in high numbers. Total dead birds is somewhere around 3k I believe.
Considering they have left piles of droppings ankle to knee depth in places, they've been noticed and they're nothing new in that area in high numbers. Total dead birds is somewhere around 3k I believe.
When I lived in Austin we had grackles that were that bad. It was truly awful to experience them. Everyone had to carry an umbrella or your head was covered wtih bird droppings (very gross, high in ammonia which discolored a few people's hair quite oddly - would NOT have believed that if I hadn't seen it in a dorm - mate). The entire city of Austin was a bird sanctuary which meant that NOTHING could be doen that might hurt the birds. Previously they all lived outside one of the girl's dorms across campus but their parents complained (the freshman sorority girls all lived there and all their parents complained) so they used loud fireworks to scare them off and they then roosted outside MY dorm (State Capitol bldg had done the same thing when they roosted there). When they would all get scared they would fly into each other and the buildings and cars and people and it was a DISASTER and truly awful to be around. They had to time efforts to make them move to when the fewest people would be around because it was actually dangerous to walk or drive when the birds all took flight.
And this was NOT the numbers of birds in the flocks being described. I fully believe that if the birds were scared by something they could die off in these numbers. Various bad weather fronts can also contribute to this in several ways.
And this was NOT the numbers of birds in the flocks being described. I fully believe that if the birds were scared by something they could die off in these numbers. Various bad weather fronts can also contribute to this in several ways.
DammitJanet
Well-Known Member
Down south these birds do swarm in large numbers but I really dont believe fireworks managed to kill in these numbers because people set off fireworks every year and this wouldnt be such a story. It would happen every year. I know during my travels through different places I have seen massive clouds of black birds. They would look like these big clouds that just soared from one place to another and until you actually got up to them you wouldnt realize they were birds. We get them here.
The fish is a real oddity. Fireworks arent going to bother them. Dynamite could if you set it off in a lake. Shooting fish in a barrel sort of thing.
This is a man made problem I am sure.
The fish is a real oddity. Fireworks arent going to bother them. Dynamite could if you set it off in a lake. Shooting fish in a barrel sort of thing.
This is a man made problem I am sure.
Here are some articles: http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&...1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=7b989c6c17f79c85
Hound dog
Nana's are Beautiful
Thanks Susie. And wow, I'm having real trouble believing both hordes of birds in several different areas and fish dying is "coincidence". Something is up, and the need to find out what that something is. That's just too much, involving too many places to dog it mere coincidence. I don't believe much in coincidences anyway. It will be interesting to see if we are ever told a real reason for all these sudden deaths.............or if they keep giving out bogus excuses that just don't wash.
