Apocalypse now? Mystery bird deaths hit Louisiana
Hundreds of blackbirds fall from sky over Louisiana, days after similar phenomenon in neighbouring ArkansasPaul Harris in New York
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 4 January 2011 23.40 GMT
Hundreds of dead birds lie on a road in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, 300 miles south of Beebe, Arkansas, where thouands of blackbirds fell from the sky three days earlier. Photograph: Liz Condo/APBirds dropping dead from the skies and rivers flowing with tens of thousands of dead fish sounds like a cheesy Hollywood movie about the Apocalypse. Or the ravings of a Revelation-obsessed street preacher.
But residents of several US states are coping with the reality of mystery mass wildlife deaths, which have left officials scratching their heads and jumpy members of the public joking (nervously) about the end of the world.
Today it emerged that about 500 red-winged blackbirds and starlings had been found dead in Louisiana. Their tiny corpses littered a short stretch of highway near the city of Labarre after apparently falling dead from the sky.
That would be spooky enough. But the Louisiana bird die-off came just a few days after up to 5,000 blackbirds fell to earth in neighbouring Arkansas in the small town of Beebe. Residents there had reported stumbling upon the bodies littering the ground and even being hit by them as they fell. One woman said she was struck while walking a dog. Another avian corpse bounced off a police car. ...........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/04/apocalypse-mystery-bird-deaths-louisiana