Red Wing Blackbird, Agelaius Phoeniceus, perched on an electrical line. Death by electricity is possible, however no burns or frayed feathers have been found on the dead birds.
Louisiana resident’s near Point Coupee experienced the same shocking phenomena as residents in Beebe, AR, when hundreds of dying birds littered the highway. Just three days earlier in Beebe, nearly 5,000 birds fell from the sky, dying in mid-air.
Many of the birds found lying on Highway 1 in Louisiana were red-winged blackbirds, the exact same species that littered the streets in Arkansas. The red-winged blackbird is one of the most common species in the United States. The estimated population for the bird is close to 200 million.
Millions of birds die every year, but what is ‘no so common’ is the mass grouping or flocks dying at once.
Officials have ruled out poisoning as a cause of death for the birds in Arkansas. However, the National Wildlife Center has yet to run tests on the Louisiana birds. Officials at the United States Geological Survey, who runs the National Wildlife Center, offered assurance that “These large events do take place”, the spokesperson said, adding, “It’s not terribly unusual”. Records at the USGS confirm that these events are not isolated, over the last 30 years there have been 16 similar events.
Preliminary tests in Arkansas revealed the birds deaths were a result of massive trauma. Experts believe that fireworks are to blame for deaths, claiming that the sudden lights and sounds likely frightened the birds. The official cause of death for the tested birds was acute physical trauma leading to internal hemorrhage. Dr. George Bradley did note in an interview with NBC that the birds did not die on impact but died while still in mid-air. The claim by Dr. Bradley adds credibility to the theory that the birds were startled and collided with one another.
Wildlife experts have not decided if the more than 100,000 fish found dead along the Arkansas River is related in anyway to the incidents with the birds. The dead fish began to wash ashore just one day before the birds fell from the sky. Local chapter head, David Lyons, of the Sierra Club, said in an interview with MSNBC said, “So far, the evidence does not suggest that pollution contributed to either the bird or fish kill”, but he was waiting for toxicology reports.
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