Government Conspiracies or Biblical Signs? Neither. Mass Bird and Fish Die-offs Occur Often
Red-winged blackbirds. Photo: Jerry Segraves
It started with the mysterious deaths of 5,000 red-winged blackbirds in Arkansas on New Year’s Eve. Reports of other seemingly strange wildlife deaths soon followed: 500 blackbirds in Louisiana; dozens of jackdaws in Sweden; 1,000 turtle doves in Italy; 2 million spot fish in Chesapeake Bay. More keep popping up on blogs and in news stories.
The “string” of puzzling events has caused confusion and concern, and has some religious bloggers saying it’s a sign the end is near.
(Not to mention all the “aflockalypse” and Hitchcock jokes. On NPR’s "Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me," Tom Bodett quipped: “Somewhere in a small retirement cottage in California, Tippi Hedren went ahh, I've seen this before.” Charlie Pierce followed with, “I was telling my wife, as we were walking down by the River of Blood the other day, there's no reason at all to be worried.”)
Wildlife experts, however, say such mass events are normal. “Mass bird die-offs can be caused by starvation, storms, disease, pesticides, collisions with man-made structures or human disturbance,” says Greg Butcher, Audubon’s director of bird conservation.
Fireworks likely caused the Arkansas incident. Same with Louisiana. In Sweden, it may have been in a mix of fireworks, cold weather, and lack of food. The doves in Italy were likely suffering from “massive indigestion brought on by over-eating,” the Daily Mail reports. And in the Chesepeake, “Cold water stress exacerbated by a large population of the affected species (juvenile spot fish) appears to be the cause of the kill,” the Maryland Department of Environment concluded.
(A repeat event is unlikely with Fourth of July fireworks, when blackbirds, common grackles, and European starlings are spread out. In the winter blackbirds flock together in roosts containing tens of thousands to 20 million individuals or more.)
A quick look at the USGS’s list of wildlife mortality events nationwide shows how frequently such events happen. Take the deaths logged during a one-month period this past fall:
| -Oct. 5: 1,200 lesser scaup, American coot (parasitism, MN) -Oct. 5: 25 American white pelican (unknown, NV) -Oct. 6: 200 mallard, muscovy ducks (botulism, FL) -Oct. 6: 25 mallard, American coot (botulism, NV) -Oct. 7: 25 red-necked grebe, double-crested cormorant, long-tailed duck, common loon, white-winged scoter (botulism, MI) -Oct. 14: 50 double-crested cormorant, anhinga (parasitism, FL) -Oct. 18: 25 western grebe (toxicosis, NV) -Oct. 19: 400 American coot (parasitism, MT) -Oct. 21: 25 Mallard (botulism, AZ) -Oct. 25: 250 white-winged scoter, long-tailed duck, red-necked grebe, common loon, horned grebe (botulism, MI) -Nov. 1: 1,000 eared grebe (avian cholera, UT) -Nov. 1: 2,750 northern fulmar (emaciation, CA/OR) |
So why all the frenzy and efforts to link the most recent die-offs? Blame it on technology allowing us to learn about isolated events and our impulse to look for patterns.
Information at your fingertips: Google Maps allows users to track mass animal deaths.
Isolated die-offs don’t pose a significant threat to our native bird populations, says Melanie Driscoll, Audubon’s director of bird conservation for the Mississippi River Flyway. “Far more concerning in the long term are the myriad other threats birds face, from widespread habitat destruction and global climate change to inappropriate energy development and invasive species.”
I think the main point many
I think the main point many around the world would make is -Although massive die offs do happen and are not that infrequent , the timing of these episodes are odd to say the least.Its not just a matter of being a slow news month.If the causes of death are examined carefully there seems to be a big problem with several of these deaths.This isn't conspiracy ,its fact.Yes humans do tend to look for patterns naturally and there is a huge one staring us all in the face with a huge question mark over it.Sometimes where there is smoke- there is fire.
I would like to see some real investigative reporting for a change instead of the big "Oh well, ho hum ,stuff happens" etc.In one case in particular most of the fish had they're eyes missing .Odd ? In another many of the birds had they're insides turned to puree.Even odder.But no it must be something mundane that happened to everyone of them.How about the fact of the sheer numbers in a 3 day period no less ? I have never in my life seen such an event and Ive been around awhile.
I follow nature very closely and I'm a scientist specializing in biology.Its more a matter of we dont want people to start panicking or reveal whats really going on.It would be nice to see journalist start looking for the real story for a change.
This is a prime example of why I dont watch the talking heads on TV and tend to get my news from the web.Its hard to find decent hard hitting journalism anymore.
You're not a biologist.
You're not a biologist. Okay, not a good one, at least.
Look to the HAARP program,
Look to the HAARP program, chemtrails and EMP technology. Why else would bees, birds , fish and humans and many other forms of life die off en masse, in such large quantities at once?
I do not agree with you. I
I do not agree with you. I think the causes of death are actually fireworks, storms, exhaustion and the fish die in the summertime lack of oxygen.
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But it is January not
But it is January not summertime and this all happened in one week Rethinking might be called for on this instance anyway.Also there are the Earthquakes and strange storms in the same time period but in different locations in the world than the deaths. I'm just saying that something strange is going on is all.
Of the 12 die-offs that
Of the 12 die-offs that occurred in one 2010 month, five were listed as due to botulism and three to parasites. So the questions would appear to be to be (1) have bird die-offs increased over time (or even, can we know whether bird die-offs have increased), (2) has the incidence of botulism and parasitism in birds increased over time and (3) if so, why?
I understand fully that
I understand fully that animals kills happen often. But this case is different because of the small window of time and location. Everyone forgets that there is also an ongoing earthquake swarm in Guy Arkansas. Nearly 700 quakes since June. I've done loads of research.
The quakes are caused by the industries in Arkansas that use deep injection wells. The wells are part of the fracking process. They cause earthquakes. See USGS. The process allowed methane gas to migrate and a seep kill the fish.
Small gas ruptures near Beebe caused the birds to panic. The noise it produced caused an emergency migration. Faye Moore, an eyewitness heard the loud sounds, and from her description, it sounds like a gas release.
Oh well, no one's going to listen to me. I'm used to that. But if you want to read more. Here's where I've posted most of my writing on the subject. At first I thought it was gas poisoning that killed the birds. But gas was still responsible for the strange occurance.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread558925/pg4
I dont really care what the
I dont really care what the cause is. this dying is just weird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The whole thing does baffle
The whole thing does baffle me but don't believe it's a rare occurance. Birds have been known to fall out of the sky rarely though it does happen. It could be anything. Would really like to know what the cause is though just so I don't feel like I've stopped watching the outer limits half way through lmao live footy
i'm waiting on the results
i'm waiting on the results on the fish testings to see if there is a link with the fish. it's strange, but it is happening all over.
Found a nice aniamted
Found a nice aniamted chronological presentation of the recent fish and bird kills
http://www.thejoyluckclub.com/Mass_Fish_and_Bird_Killing_2011.htm
Another informative and
Another informative and useful article for everyone, thank for sharing this.
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