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Thousands Of Birds Fall From The Sky


Dakotabre

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(From THE AUSTRALIAN newspaper)

Thousands of birds fall from sky

By Amanda O'Brien

January 10, 2007 01:00am

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THOUSANDS of birds have fallen from the skies over Esperance and no one knows why.

Is it an illness, toxins or a natural phenomenon? A string of autopsies in Perth have shed no light on the mystery.

All the residents of flood-devastated Esperance know is that their "dawn chorus" of singing birds is missing.

The main casualties are wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, new holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters, although some dead crows, hawks and pigeons have also been found.

Wildlife officers are baffled by the "catastrophic" event, which the Department of Environment and Conservation said began well before last week's freak storm.

On Monday, Esperance, 725km southeast of Perth, was declared a natural disaster zone.

District nature conservation co-ordinator Mike Fitzgerald said the first reports of birds dropping dead in people's yards came in three weeks ago. More than 500 deaths had since been notified. But the calls stopped suddenly last week, reportedly because no birds were left.

"It's very substantial. We estimate several thousand birds are dead, although we don't have a clear number because of the large areas of bushland," Mr Fitzgerald said.

Birds Australia, the nation's main bird conservation group, said it had not heard of a similar occurrence. "Not on that scale, and all at the same time, and also the fact that it's several different species," chief executive Graeme Hamilton said. "You'd have to call that a most unusual event and one that we'd all have to be concerned about."

He expected birds would return to the area once the problem - natural or man-made phenomenon - was fixed but said it was vital the cause was identified.

The Department of Agriculture and Food, which conducted the autopsies, has almost ruled out an infectious process.

Acting chief veterinary officer Fiona Sunderman said toxins were the most likely cause but the deaths could be due to anything from toxic algae to chemicals and pesticides.

Dr Sunderman said there were no leads yet on which of potentially hundreds of toxins might be responsible. Some birds were seen convulsing as they died.

Michelle Crisp was one of the first to contact the DEC after finding dozens of dead birds on her property one morning.

She told The Australian she normally had hundreds of birds in her yard, but that she and a neighbour counted 80 dead birds in one day.

"It went to the point where we had nothing, not a bird," she said.

"It was like a moonscape, just horrible. But the frightening thing for us, we didn't find any more birds after that. We literally didn't have any birds left to die."

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Wow, that's not good. They need to get to the bottom of that quickly. I've never heard of such a thing.

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It is very strange! Hope its not that bird flu malarky though the autopsy would of said that. As the story says it will probably be a man made problem, shame.

Edited by Geordie Don
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January 08, 2007

Were dead birds in Austin, Texas, poisoned?

Were dead birds that closed downtown Austin, Texas, poisoned by building owners for pooping on their buildings?

A wire story just filed by Associated Press writer Jim Vertuno, states that police shut down 10 blocks of businesses in the heart of downtown Austin, Texas, early today "after dozens of birds were found dead in the streets." Officials said preliminary tests showed no dangerous chemicals in the air.

The story said "as many as 60 dead pigeons, sparrows and grackles were found overnight along Congress Avenue, a main route through downtown." No human injuries or illnesses were reported.

Interestingly, all three birds are typical of those types of urban birds that perch in large flocks on rooftops, gutters and sidewalks around buildings and make enormous messes that building owners have to clean up.

Grackles are crow-size birds, black with iridescent heads, backs and bellies that normally inhabit urban areas in the Midwest and Eastern parts of the United States. We’re all familiar with pigeons and sparrows. All three of the bird species eat just about anything they find on city streets, especially seeds.

And seeds are what angry building owners sometimes use to poison these birds so they don’t poop on their buildings. It has happened in other cities in the past. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what they discover after just about every medical testing facility in Austin, and quite a few that aren’t, finishes testing the bodies of the dead birds.

Source

Same exact bird effected in Perth and Austin....something strange here.

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Aztec Warrior nice article :D people were freaking out lol... word or birdfly was spreading but it looks like it was just a poisoning

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but it looks like it was just a poisoning

Hopefully that's all it was; although this is the second isolated case within 48 hours.

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Wow, that's not good. They need to get to the bottom of that quickly. I've never heard of such a thing.

:yes:

The fact that it happened in Austin on the 8th and now the 10th in oz, that's what is so bizzare about it.

Edited by SavvyWitch
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I would hazard a guess at this being a particularly virulent virus. It'll probably pass, but hopefully not too many birds will be dead by then. Imagine:

'Excuse me, Mr. Councillor-type-person. I found this dead pigeon in my garden this morning.'

'No, s'just pining.'

'It's not pining, it's passed on!'

^All hail Monty Python

At least it's not happening in Britain...Our precious, drab, boring sparrows shall always survive.

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Probably just a pigeon killer...Someone who poisons pigeons for fun.

traveling Bird Killer... he strikes in austin as he is getting on the plane... than he strikes in australia as hes getting of off it ... wooovvv... what a theory my friend :w00t:

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Probably just a pigeon killer...Someone who poisons pigeons for fun.

Yes, a pigeon poisoner who works over two continents. And poisons thousands of birds, not all of which are pigeons.

*tuts* Not on top form are we, frogfish?

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Yes, a pigeon poisoner who works over two continents. And poisons thousands of birds, not all of which are pigeons.

*tuts* Not on top form are we, frogfish?

traveling Bird Killer... he strikes in austin as he is getting on the plane... than he strikes in australia as hes getting of off it ... wooovvv... what a theory my friend

Who said a pigeon killer has to kill pigeons :P

And also who said it was only one person. It could of been many people. There are many cases of these people killing pigeons in New York, Detroit, and Chicago.

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there are several accounts of volcanic eruptions underneath the ground in marsh type areas where water and sulpher springs exhist , the account of the fish falling from the sky is such a example im speaking of, along with these fish was a merky clay amber substance with some type of poisionous gases in them. toxic perhaps,. In the bermuda triangle there has been claim of under the sea there beneath the earths mantel the same type of volcanic explosions, like a giant air bubble that experts outward or sucks inward twords the earthes sea level.

nevertheless there is so much underground bullongia with military facilities secret experiement shelters from before world war 2 even 1 that literealy Im guess it could be due to some disturbance underground from mankinds end of responsibility. Most definetly strange and scary. sign of the times,.... keep your notebook handy something tells me 2007 is going to be a bumpy ride

Abecrombie

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Coal miners of old used small birds to identify when the mineshaft air was contaminated by noxious poisonous gases (the bird would die and fall off its perch) :(

Maybe Birds are just very susceptible to poisonous fumes and this is just a tragic coincidence.

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It was a kick ass storm though hey.... funny for that time of year wasnt it... I think it was the first storm like that for about 15yrs or something. A perfect storm they called it. Pitty about the birds though.... but maybe it was just the weather some how because the storm was very unique. Anyway it was strange thats for sure.

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Who said a pigeon killer has to kill pigeons :P

And also who said it was only one person. It could of been many people. There are many cases of these people killing pigeons in New York, Detroit, and Chicago.

Bit of a coincidence though innit, me old china?

NB: There may not be such thing as coincidence.

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Anyone remember the movie Signs where the birds hit the invisible UFOs in the sky...?

Yeah, I'm creeped out.

you saying that were about to get invaded by a bunch of aliens who are weak against water.. ah well time to get my water gun

lol

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Who said a pigeon killer has to kill pigeons :P

And also who said it was only one person. It could of been many people. There are many cases of these people killing pigeons in New York, Detroit, and Chicago.

like seriously SADDEST excuse EVER

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