Obviously hit by a cloaked alien ship.

Over recent decades there have been allegations of declines in populations ranging from fish to honey bees to birds.

I'm not suggesting that environmental concerns don't factor into this phenomenon, or in at least some of these incidents, because we simply don't know at this point.

What caught my attention in this particular incident:

From the article-

“They came out of the trees in the emergency area of the hospital, flew a few metres and plummeted to the pavement”, she said."

If the eyewitness account is accurate, an entire population of Starlings took flight, flew a short distance, and plummeted to the ground dead or dying.

If it was a simple lack of food, water, or shelter, they could've simply flown elsewhere to find them. Pesticides or other chemicals, or diseases? It would be one thing for a long slow decline in the health of the birds, declining egg production or young viability, one or two birds dying here and there over time, yeah, I could see that.

But the whole flock taking flight at the same moment and then simultaneously and equally overcome by the same cause???

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
Somebody over charged the microwave transmitter up on the roof?

Yeah, that possibility crossed my mind as well.

There have been reports of birds dying in the propellers of wind turbine generation farms, or over focused mirror solar powered electric generation farms, but I doubt that either of these was located next to the hospital and would be fairly obvious explanations for the bird's deaths.

Earth's shifting magnetic field a possible cause?

High powered radar units could cause that, but I doubt that any of those were in that area, either. I guess we'll have to wait for the autopsy results.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
High powered radar units could cause that, but I doubt that any of those were in that area, either. I guess we'll have to wait for the autopsy results.

flashguy

Yeah, that's right, I meant to include radar and RF as possible considerations as well...along with 5G tech.

Thanks for adding that possibility to the discussion flashguy.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/bird...rd/story?id=12544093

Linked is an event from 2011, mass bird deaths. With a little Google, the same has happened sporadically around the world. Even with follow up, an exact cause is hard to pinpoint.

A large die-off in NM the Fall of 2020 comes up with many articles. One part that seems consistent is most birds were skin & bones, with very little fat reserves. They mentioned an unusual cold snap, lack of insects for food during migration.

Some die-offs go back even more than a few decades, some are explained with weather phenomenon, thunder clap, hail, similar.

One article mentioned empty stomachs, no sigh of pesticide poisoning. Years ago when cleaning out a birdhouse I found a skeleton of a Tree Swallow inside, with a band on the leg. We had an unusual cold snap that Spring, I sorta ‘assumed’ the insect eating bird had some combo of starving or freezing to death. The bird was banded the previous Spring 12 miles North.

Maybe a little TMI, just saying mass bird die-offs happen periodically, not always the same cause.

The wrens in Spain fall mainly in the plain.

An explanation...with no explanation

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:
The wrens in Spain fall mainly in the plain.

Ok. Nice. I liked it anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
Maybe a little TMI, just saying mass bird die-offs happen periodically, not always the same cause.

Agreed. I was aware of other mass bird die-offs, and wasn't attempting to explain all of them so much as this particular incident, as these birds were reported to be in flight when they took off and suddenly died.

Thanks for the article, although it's still not clear to me if all, or some, were actually in flight when they fell to their deaths, with the exception of the flock that flew into the power lines.

I know that I don't get behind the controls of an airplane and attempt flight when I'm injured or feeling sick, so I assumed that creatures gifted with the innate ability to fly would make the same instinctive decision... but perhaps I'm giving them too much credit.

Wouldn't the simplest explanation be that they all ate some bad food or drank some bad water from the same place? Something contaminated, or possibly poisoned?

As mentioned, with a group of dead birds, the reason can vary by event, location, types of birds, & other factors. I read a handful of articles with mass deaths widely separated with years & location.

A few years ago, West Nile virus was mentioned locally for doing in a number of birds, certain types more susceptible.

One that comes up a lot, and was investigated was Fall of 2020 in NM, many 1000’s over a wide area. Many of these birds were insect eaters, it was mentioned they were skin, bones, & feathers, zero fat. On top of that they had empty stomachs. At the time they had a record cold snap which killed off insects, fire smoke mentioned too.

Besides all that, there are less numbers & variety at the backyard bird feeder. I’m not just talking me, but others that do the same.

Yes, kinda low on the screen for many. Even with myself not something I worry about every day. Just saying something is afoot.


https://www.smithsonianmag.com...ion-birds-180973178/

West Nile virus probably was the cause of the crow decline at my property in Loudoun County.

When I bought this place in 1980, there was two covies of quail and eight to ten Whip-poor-wills in the summer time.. Over time, the neighbor cats killed off the quail and the land development pushed out the Whip-poor-wills.

In the beginning, there were two pair of bluebirds which expanded to six to eight pairs as I put up 20 some boxes.

Then I had Tree Swallows use the bluebird boxes in the early 90's even though the boxes are over 1000 yards from Goose Creek. I had four or five nesting pair for about six years, then one year they failed to return and I assumed they were killed in a storm in their flight south for the winter. If you got too close to their nesting box, they would dive bomb you.

In the beginning, I kept detailed records of the weekly check of the boxes. Other birds used the boxes for nesting such as chickadees and Titmouse. Starlings were a problem at times so you waited until dark and caught them in the box. Since this is a mountain environment, you would get flying squirrels using the boxes if they were mounted on a tree or placed too close to a tree.

Over the years, I fledged over 2000 bluebirds. Last year, there were only two pair of nesting bluebirds. Someone busted seven boxes the year before and even killed one bluebird that was on the nest.

Wow 41, you seem to really know birds & population swings.

When it comes to ground nesting game birds, pheasant, quail & such, I have to think fur prices play a role. Back in the day, trapping for coons, you would catch skunks. Catching either help with nest success.

Now one of the biggest threats to a coon is crossing the road.

About a month ago when I got in from work my neighbor came up to me and said a huge flock of birds hit my house. She said it was very loud. Every Fall we see the huge flock of hundreds, maybe thousand that gather. This flock was in a big tree across the street and the whole flock flew into my 2nd story. As far as I know none died, but I haven't checked the gutters yet. These birds are nasty, crapped on my white pickup so bad I had to wash it twice to just get it out of the paint.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
Wow 41, you seem to really know birds & population swings.

When it comes to ground nesting game birds, pheasant, quail & such, I have to think fur prices play a role. Back in the day, trapping for coons, you would catch skunks. Catching either help with nest success.

Now one of the biggest threats to a coon is crossing the road.

You are right that raccoons and skunks are a threat to ground nesting birds. I trap the raccoons since they will do the number on your garden in one night. Occasionally, I would catch a skunk.

Something else interesting is that I saw no ticks this year probably due to all the turkeys on the property.

So where do raccoons stay? In trees.

Here’s a little more that may be relevant, ‘neonic’ pesticides. They came on the scene 20-25 years ago & are very toxic to bees & other insects. There’s potentially that ‘food chain’ effect.

I’m not so much talking about a flock of birds dying in Spain, but the serious decline of certain songbirds in the yard.

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/d...d-know-about-neonics


https://www.nrdc.org/experts/l...ly-80-listed-species

Food for thought as you converse with a birder neighbor.

Browning A5 with the 3 round plug removed. I slaughtered with the 16 gauge.

I no longer have the metal to hunt, but I slaughtered everything with that gun

* Last years were three rounds and a plug. Nothing illegal.

Several years ago, they recommended to not feed the birds because some of the feed being sold contained pesticides.

I recently noticed that Walmart carries meal worms which would be good for bluebirds.

Back in the 90's, I fed the doves chick cracked corn. In the winter time, there could be up to 100 doves or more setting in the trees waiting their turn to feed.

There was also a squirrel proof feeder for the cardinals. One winter, there must have been 20 cardinals or more. There was so many that it was hard to get an accurate count.

Here is the resident Coopers hawk at the lot: