Loud noises kill thousands? Is this theory for the birds?

[PPI Tracy]

On New Years Day, thousands of birds fell out of the sky in Arkansas.  On Monday, another mass of the same kind of birds fell from the sky, this time in Louisiana.

They all had evidence of severe internal trauma, yet no external.  Theories abound but one that is heading the pack is "Loud noises from fireworks on New Years Eve".  Okay, but what about Monday's incident?  Are you buying it?  What is your theory?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40904491/ns/us_news-environment/

[PPI Brian]

My initial impression is that it's weather related, not fireworks related. The National Weather Service should have an online record of severe weather in the area prior to the discovery of dead birds. The Veterinarian they quoted in the article said the birds suffered from trauma to the breast and chest areas, and that they appeared to have died in midair, then fell to the ground. I'm having difficulty believing the birds were spooked by fireworks, flew into buildings and trees in a panic, suffered massive internal injuries then took to the air and died as a group all at the same time. Wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that some birds would sustain more severe injuries than others and die at different times? If the birds were swept up in a tornado they would be battered by debris and thrown great distances. This theory has been attributed to mysterious rains of frogs in certain parts of the world, and it seems much more plausible to me. It might also account for the dead fish that were also discovered in the area. The two mass die-offs are obviously related.

Just my two cents...

[Gary]

"Yup, our plans werked!  Nom nom nom!!!"

[PPI Debra]

Gary- cats rule the universe, LOL!

The things that add to the weirdness of the bird fall:

*they were one species: red wing blackbird
*more have been found in a fall in Louisiana
*there was a massive die-off of drum fish in the Arkansas River at the same time (again, one species)

[PPI Tracy]

I LOVE IT, Gary!!!

I am a Christian but I'm not subscribing to the biblical flip out that I see so many people gushing about all over the internet.  I don't think it's the "end of days" or the second coming of Christ.  I just think that we've abused Mother Earth for so long and now, she's pissed.

Seriously, if you look at what is happening globally with the weather.  Holy crud.  It's snowing where it doesn't snow, flooding where it doesn't flood and we are seeing the most severe weather patterns we have ever seen.  Look at all the earthquakes....massive earthquakes that have happened in just the last 6 months, it's an eye opener.

Makes you wonder if Mother Nature is just going to open up and swallow us whole.   Nom..Nom..Nom!

[Gary]

I agree with you Tracy.  End of times or not, Mother Earth is indeed pissed.  It's scary, but it's happening.

[PPI Debra]

Before Lama Gyatso died in 2009, Larry and I had long conversation with him (knowing he was dying).

He told us "The American economy will recover, slowly. But it will be the weather changes that will be hard for people to cope with."

Lamas often develop siddhis from their intense yoga practices. Siddhis are abilities or gifts. He never claimed so, but it was known that he was clairvoyant.

[PPI Jason]

I read about this earlier today as well.

What has me stumped is this. Why is it only one species?

Weather? Sure...  Fireworks?.... I don't know, maybe?  But why one species and not another?

The impact of strange weather on one species of bird would surely affect other similar birds of a different species.

I'd also like to know if any other cases of in-flight chest injuries have occurred to any other birds. If so, what is the mechanism that caused those injuries. If not, then it gets really weird.

This is a really super cool mystery. But Gary is right. The cats are behind this.....somehow.

[PPI Tracy]

EXACTLY, Jason!  Why only that species of bird?  It doesn't make sense.  Is there something special or particular about that type of bird?  Hey...where is our resident bird expert, Karl?

[PPI Debra]

EXACTLY, Jason!  Why only that species of bird?  It doesn't make sense.  Is there something special or particular about that type of bird?  Hey...where is our resident bird expert, Karl?

The story has just been updated. http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/04/arkansas.bird.mystery/index.html?hpt=Sbin

They claim there were some starlings among the blackbirds.
In the Louisiana fall, there were black birds, starlings and grackles.

Also, they claim that there were no unusual weather patterns that day.
I did see that a tornado hit Fayetteville, AR ( 4 people dead) that day. Aren't winter tornadoes a little unusual?

The story seem to get weirder as time goes on.

[PPI Tracy]

You're right, Debra.  It DOES seem to be getting weirder and weirder as it goes on.  First of all, now the birds are different species.  Second, they are saying that they died on Friday and "over the New Year's weekend when the reports came in as the first band of birds died on New Years Eve, then the next bunch was on Monday.  

Power lines?  Really?  Come on.  The birds had no visible signs of trauma on the outside, just on the inside.  I'm sorry, but if you flew into power lines, you'd be french fried on the outside, not bleeding internally and clotting with ZERO signs of trauma on the outside.  If that many birds hit power lines at the same time, surely you would think there would be some sort of power outtage.  If a tree falls on a power line, it knocks it out.  Am I reaching here?

[PPI Jason]

I agree Tracy. They need to do an autopsy on those birds before those big ships from Independence Day show up and answer all of our questions with big lasers.

However, and this is another stretch, what about air pressure?

If birds were to experience a sudden change of air pressure, would it cause a crushing chest injury like the type the birds experienced? Sort of analogous to a person going down deep under water. Eventually the pressure would cause a person to implode. Now, since the birds didn't implode, maybe they just experience enough of a pressure change to crush the chest cavity to a limited degree.

If that were true, and tornadoes are associated with significant air pressure changes as well as strong winds that could throw a bird between different altitudes, and ergo, different air pressures.

Just a thought. Maybe the injury came from within. That's why there's no injury without.

Hmmmm.

[ljiljanac]

Rapid decompression injuries?

[PPI Tracy]

Okay, so say that the air pressure change did occur.  Why wouldn't other birds be affected?  What about aviation?  Wouldn't small planes be affected?  Wouldn't the National Weather Service or AAOP have any data on that?  What would have been different about the air pressure on those two ocassions than at any other time? I checked and there is no such data on record for those dates and times.

If in fact it had to do with air pressure, would't you think their eyes would be affected?  If the air pressure changed that much to do massive internal trauma, the eyes would either pop out or be sucked in, wouldn't you think?

Here is another thought........what if it was done on purpose to create a mystery?  Think "Crop Circles".  What if these birds were killed elsewhere and then dropped from a plane?  They were scattered over a mile and a half stretch, right?    

[Gary]

HAHA, the Government dropping dead birds from planes?  Now that I could believe!!!   

[PPI Tracy]

Well, ya never know.  I mean, truth IS stranger than fiction. 

(just look at the new couple:  John Mellencamp and Meg Ryan. Now THAT IS paranormal!)

[PPI Brian]

LOL! I can see it now: Headline of the National Enquirer reads -- Black Helicopter Drops Thousands of Dead Birds On Unsuspecting Town.  

The more I read about this story, and the more research I've been able to do on the birds in question, the more convinced I am that this incident was weather related. Even if there wasn't a tornado in the area, there could very well have been lightning. These birds are gregarious and are known to fly in huge flocks. If you ever spent time in the south or the east coast you have probably admired these incredible flocks moving through the sky. They move in massive undulating waves not unlike schools of fish off the California coast:

http://www.youtube.com/v/ZNuMKKssSi8?fs=1&hl=en_US

If a bolt of lightning passed near them they wouldn't stand a chance. They would be stunned or killed instantly, and the entire flock would fall from the sky. The trauma the veterinarians commented about could have been caused by the birds hitting the ground. Lightning is probably the best explanation for the massive fish kill that accompanied the bird kill. As for the birds that dropped dead in Louisinana, they described a huge bird fall pattern that was close to a high voltage power line near a major highway. The Fish and Game Department has theorized they flew into the power line, which doesn't sound very plausible to me. However, there is a well known phenomena associated with high voltage power lines that could be responsible for killing a large flock of birds -- a power line arc. If the power line arced as the flock passed over it all the birds would be killed instantly. The devastating brush fires we experienced in 2007 were attributed to power line arcs. Weather Underground shows the weather in the area was fairly calm and humidity was fairly low, but power line arcs are not always associated with high winds:

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KNEW/2011/1/3/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA

Here's some links about the red winged blackbirds:

http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-red-winged-blackbird.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-winged_Blackbird

If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing a high voltage power line arc in person, here are some videos you might find "enlightening":

http://www.youtube.com/v/6GiIVze2Tac?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/7cbP2_AMN7U?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/OY72athcwvA?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/_FsRZ-I9_F0?fs=1&hl=en_US

[PPI Tracy]

..and the HITS just keep on comin.....

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40921795/ns/today-green/

[PPI Tim]

I KNOW WHO THE MURDER IS!!! :o
The answer came to me in a South Park episode.
The murder is.........BP!
There are expanding. Not only can they kill life in the oceans but now can kill life in the air as well.
It is either them or it the radio station WKRP. ::|