Mystery as 'hundreds' of birds found dead in road

rxodium

rxodium

rxodium

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Mass bird kills aren't uncommon in nature. I don't think anyone has actually found out why it happens but my guess would be collisions when they do that swarming thing.
 

chaparral

chaparral

chaparral

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rxodium said:
but my guess would be collisions when they do that swarming thing.
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I just been googling and it seems this is what happens

Quotes here taken from different stories
But a statement from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Wildlife Service says the flock of birds was being chased by a much larger bird just before the starlings hit the ground.

The service says the cloud of birds swooped toward the ground and then pulled back up but the tail end of the swarm didn’t and about 200 birds hit the ground, killing 42 starlings on impact.

A veterinarian pathologist with the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture conducted a necropsy and found the cause of death was a chest injury and there was no evidence of underlying infectious disease or intoxication.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/09...irds-plummeting-to-death-from-the-sky-in-b-c/
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"When attacked, starlings bump into each other and if one starling hits an obstacle, many others will follow behind and meet the same fate."

https://www.sott.net/article/376240-The-riddle-of-hundreds-of-starlings-falling-from-the-sky-in-Rome
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something daft already!!

something daft already!!

something daft already!!

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koolpc said:
Cats! Lol, that is really funny. Do you think the cats had machine guns to kill so many? Lol
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Of course. Might have been a very large cat or lots of normal sized ones. They are crafty creatures.

I was kidding about the cats. It was probably badgers with sling shots.
 

Draeger

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Maybe it is related to the same fate that some Crows have befallen......

Researchers for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority found over 200 dead crows near greater Boston recently, and there was concern that they may have died from Avian Flu. A Bird Pathologist examined the remains of all the crows, and, to everyone's relief, confirmed the problem was definitely NOT Avian Flu. The cause of death appeared to be vehicular impacts.

However, during the detailed analysis it was noted that varying colors of paints appeared on the bird's beaks and claws. By analyzing these paint residues it was determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, while only 2% were killed by an impact with a car.

MTA then hired an Ornithological Behaviourist to determine if there was a cause for the disproportionate percentages of truck kills versus car kills.

The Ornithological Behaviourist very quickly concluded the cause: when crows eat road kill, they always have a look-out crow in a nearby tree to warn of impending danger.

The scientific conclusion was that while all the lookout crows could say "Cah", none could say "Truck."
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Yadda

Yadda

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Heard about this on my local news earlier. Apparently no dead birds could be seen in the fields either side of the road, only on the road and hedges that line the road.

Toxicology results should be interesting, the only thing I can think of is that something very nasty was released into the air along that road that instantly killed anything that flew through it.
 
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