8 replies to this topic

[the L]

"When I first came upon it, when the kids were kicking them out of the road, there had to be 300 birds there, at least. It was crazy. There's some even in the field and the water and stuff, too, it's crazy


http://www.themounta...-sky-in-Seymour

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

It's somewhat common at this time of year apparently - a part of a flock is started, it takes to flight, that part of the flock rouses the rest of the flock in fright, they basically rouse the entire forest anf then in terror fly into things, including each other.

[the L]

Wearer of Hats, on 02 January 2013 - 02:54 AM, said:

It's somewhat common at this time of year apparently - a part of a flock is started, it takes to flight, that part of the flock rouses the rest of the flock in fright, they basically rouse the entire forest anf then in terror fly into things, including each other.

What? Can you elaborate more?

[mfrmboy]

Officials from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency responded and took two to three birds from the scene for testing, Stoffle said. A state highway department truck with a snow blade attachment scraped the birds from the highway onto the shoulder.

So they could'nt find something better to do with them ?

[docyabut2]

How many times does one see a flock of bird get startle and kill themselves.I don`nt think so.")

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

the L, on 02 January 2013 - 11:22 AM, said:

What? Can you elaborate more?

i saw it in one of those "will the world end in 2012?" documentaries, basically birds are conditioned to take flight straight away when the alarm call is made, even if they're asleep, what happened in this case was something started the part of the flock, who rose up making the alarm cry rousing the rest of the flock but in such a way as to be uncoordinated, it was dark (I bet they were day flying birds), it was cold, there were probably fireworks to boot, all that threw off their innate collision avoidance abilities and part of the flock died.

Does it happen a lot? No, as it takes a nasty confluence of events to produce mass death like that, but it's neither a mystery or a sign.

[Hilander]

Quote

Results from preliminary testing released Wednesday by the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin, show the birds died from blunt-force trauma, supporting preliminary findings released by the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission on Monday.
"They collided with cars, trees, buildings, and other stationary objects," said ornithologist Karen Rowe of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
"Right before they began to fall, it appears that really loud booms from professional-grade fireworks—10 to 12 of them, a few seconds apart—were reported in the general vicinity of a roost of the birds, flushing them out," Rowe said.

Why Are Birds Falling From the Sky?

Still think they should test these birds to be sure, never know.

[orangepeaceful79]

Wearer of Hats, on 03 January 2013 - 12:11 AM, said:

i saw it in one of those "will the world end in 2012?" documentaries, basically birds are conditioned to take flight straight away when the alarm call is made, even if they're asleep, what happened in this case was something started the part of the flock, who rose up making the alarm cry rousing the rest of the flock but in such a way as to be uncoordinated, it was dark (I bet they were day flying birds), it was cold, there were probably fireworks to boot, all that threw off their innate collision avoidance abilities and part of the flock died.

Does it happen a lot? No, as it takes a nasty confluence of events to produce mass death like that, but it's neither a mystery or a sign.

Sometimes bad things happen to nice birds.  Its just the way of the world.

[Asadora]

Could be the 'sounds' from the HARRP.