Are you concerned about the mass die-offs of birds that have been in the news this week?

Lol…no I don’t care…But I am enjoying the bible thumpers and conspiracy nuts going wild over this…lol

I’m still betting on it being an improper application of a pesticide. ZnP rodenticide in cracked corn.

I have no idea what the cause is, and I’m not trying to speculate… but I do find it fascinating and I’m incredibly curious to hear when they do find the cause. The multiple reasons for each area is something that interests me. Could it really be normal for hundreds of birds to drop from the sky on any given day? Seems like that sort of thing would freak anyone out enough to make the news at least once before.

It’s the start of the Apocalypse. All the experts are saying so.

I too am very interested in the why. I am on a conservation commission board and find it very important to understand why this occured. If it was a manmade issue (most are) we do all we can to not repeat it.
@TheOnlyNeffie I have seen it hit the news before, but about once in 10 years. Awaiting a reasonable explanation too.

Seriously, the fish was all one species as I understand, so it was probably disease. The birds are something else. I hadn’t heard about the one in Sweden. Was it similar to the two in the US?

@Adirondackwannabe A friend mentioned it to me yesterday. I googled it, and got several articles. Around 100 Jack Daws were found dead.

Bird kills are common On Jan 27 2009 there was an intentional kill of about 5000 starlings in NJ.

“carcasses of starlings still pepper the snowy roads and lawns of central New Jersey’s rural Griggstown community three days after federal officials used a pesticide to kill as many as 5,000 of the birds.

Many residents Monday were still getting over their shock from the sudden spate of deaths. Some were unaware that the deaths resulted from an intentional culling and that the pesticide used was harmless to people and pets.

“It was raining birds,” said Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine. “It got people a little anxious.”

You can find many other example of this with a few minutes of searching. The reason I’m guessing ZnP is I personally have seen it work on members of the Rodentia family. It is quick. 1 -2 minutes. Birds can be eating it, suddenly get spooked, fly off and then drop.

The lab tests will tell the truth – much to the chagrin of the person or persons responsible.

@worriedguy always full of useful information. Thank you for sharing. :)

@stump Thanks. I’ll go take a quick look. Again, if it’s a single species I’m looking for disease first.

Nah.

@stump Found it. That one could be the lorry driver. I don’t think it’s at all related to the US ones.

@Adirondackwannabe True. Not the numbers of the US die-offs. But still creepy.

@stump @worriedguy How about a toxin or disease affecting their equilibrium enough for them to be bouncing off objects until the agent, whatever it is, kills them? The external injuries seem strange.

@Adirondackwannabe has it been established that the external injuries are not from the fall itself?
What’s up with the fish in New Zealand missing their eyeballs? That’s just weird, right?

@TheOnlyNeffie What would make them fall is what I’m trying to figure out. If you’ve been around fish much you’ll see the eyes are usually the first thing that gets eaten on dead fish. (Sorry for that image)

Ohio born & raised. I don’t know anything about dead fish. Makes sense, though. Lots of useful info in this thread.

Useful and/or gross.

@Adirondackwannabe That sounds like a reasonable explanation. I hope we hear an explanation. But explanations are not as newsworthy as mysteries.

Nah, why it rains cats & dogs on a regular basis where I live.

What are the temperatures like in the areas affected by this?

ZnP affects the central nervous system (CNS). When it is consumed things work fine for a little while and then the connections start short-circuiting. If they were a large flock that landed in a field with evenly distributed pesticide they would eat a similar amount and take off at the same time if there was a disturbance. They would all run into trouble at about the same time and drop in a similar spot.

@worriedguy And the injuries would occur when they fell or crashed?

Exactly. They would have been falling from a couple of hundred feet, still alive but out of control. Wait for the lab data.

I am not. This is just one of those things that no one cares about until one story comes up and now it’s all hyped up. I read an article that said that this kind of thing does happen every now and then, it’s just been brought into the spotlight now.

There were also a couple hundred birds in Murray, KY last week.

One theory is that high level sound waves from HAARP is responsible.

Only in passing. I usually ignore that kind of thing. We read of massive die offs several times a year.

This is winter time with storms. Many species of birds like to fly in huge flocks. Is it not possible that a flock of birds could suddenly find themselves trapped in a funnel cloud or hurricane force winds strong enough to kill them, carry their dead bodies high up in the jet-stream and then drop what’s left of the dead birds miles away?

As for the fish. Again a funnel wind of great force out in the ocean sucks up schools of fish up high into the air and kills them in the process. Later the fish drop back into the sea to be washed up onto the beach. While people scratch their heads and say what the…..?