Posted on 01/09/2007 7:56:48 AM PST by Michael_Michaelangelo
THOUSANDS of birds have fallen from the skies over Esperance and no one knows why. Is it an illness, toxins or a natural phenomenon? A string of autopsies in Perth have shed no light on the mystery. All the residents of flood-devastated Esperance know is that their "dawn chorus" of singing birds is missing.
The main casualties are wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, new holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters, although some dead crows, hawks and pigeons have also been found.
Wildlife officers are baffled by the "catastrophic" event, which the Department of Environment and Conservation said began well before last week's freak storm.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
Ditto?
Turkeys.
Natural phenomenon? Riiiiiight. I'm not an expert by any means, but I cannot believe that's even remotely "natural." LOL
That being said, do you know if authorities in Austin, TX ever found out what killed all of the birds in downtown Austin yesterday? THAT is pretty freaky too.
No, that's Cincinnati. This is Australia.
:-D )))
Massive fish kills often occur naturally, why would birds (or any other animal) be any different? As various diseases and organisms mutate sooner or later strains occur that cause mass deaths in various species. Nature changes, cycles, and adapts.
So who knows what this is and if it is natural or tied to human actions (though in some ways it is a bit odd to consider humans to be outside of nature.)
There is no source. Nobody knows why the birds were dropping dead in Austin yesterday.
OK....Just for the record someone has to officially condemn Bush and Rove for their policies in the White House for these birds acting/dying the way they are. So here it comes....Brace yourselves......BUSH'S FAULT!!!!!
Perhaps I should have pointed out that it was one theory, but the most likely cause(my opinion). A disease process would almost certainly not cause a quick and widespread die-off among several species like was seen in downtown Austin. Poisoning is most plausible.
Canaries in the coal mines ...
I was just about to make a joke about turkeys falling from the sky in Cincinnati, but you beat me to it.
Bush's Fault.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!!!"
From the article:
"Birds Australia, the nation's main bird conservation group, said it had not heard of a similar occurrence. "Not on that scale, and all at the same time, and also the fact that it's several different species," chief executive Graeme Hamilton said. "You'd have to call that a most unusual event and one that we'd all have to be concerned about."
And...
"Acting chief veterinary officer Fiona Sunderman said toxins were the most likely cause but the deaths could be due to anything from toxic algae to chemicals and pesticides.
Dr Sunderman said there were no leads yet on which of potentially hundreds of toxins might be responsible. Some birds were seen convulsing as they died."
With all the "gasses" stories popping up, one wonders if there is some worldwide "venting" of noxious gasses. (Insert Rosie joke here).
Ping.
What could never understand is why would anyone want to be "close to" somebody who has that kind of effect on the local wild life?
Wonder what kinds of food pigeons, sparrows and grackles would all eat in common.
I've heard of birds getting really sick on chile pequins they eat off of bushes, thinking they're ordinary seeds or berries - and I've also heard that quail and game birds eat them with impunity and their meat is highly seasoned and very good.
Then there are mistletoe berries that are poisonous to birds, but we would've heard of lots of Oklahoma birds also dying if that were the source. I do wonder if this was a bumper crop mistletoe year - hadn't been out in the country to observe.
Then I've also heard of them getting drunk on those little red berries that are non-edible to humans - and always splattered on my patio in bird droppings. Drunk birds fall out of the sky, too.
I don't know what to make of the Austin ones. And we already know there is an animal uprising in Australia, so that's easy.
I hadn't heard about this previous to your ping, girlangler. This is very, very strange. Has there ever been any other incident of thousands of birds just falling from the skies?
Hm......what about the possibility of them passing through areas where their wings pick up chemical weapons, toxins, poisonings and then by the time they get to other areas, they fall dead.
What about an area powdered with some chemical agent as the one that killed the Russian spy? The birds come in, pick up and
carry the toxin to other locations. No evidence trail, just
a terrorist attack of a chemical weapon. The contamination then is spread.
I would not be surprised to see occurrences of "weird" bird deaths as ploys are developed.
On the day that he was born, the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true. So they sprinkled moon dust in his hair of gold and starlight in his eyes of blue. That is why ...
Enviro groups with agendas are going to have a tougher time now that Google is around:
http://au.news.yahoo.com/070105/2/11yv9.html
"Natural changes in the environment, not man-made pollution, may be to blame for the mass deaths of flamingos in Kenya, scientists have said."
Rare doesn't mean never.
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