More Than 1,000 Dead Birds Fall From Sky In Ark. (Arkansas)

AP via Yahoo News ^ | 2 Jan 2011 | AP

[edpc]

BEEBE, Ark. – Wildlife officials are trying to determine what caused more than 1,000 blackbirds to die and fall from the sky over an Arkansas town.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Saturday that it began receiving reports about the dead birds about 11:30 p.m. the previous night. The birds fell over a 1-mile area of Beebe, and an aerial survey indicated that no other dead birds were found outside of that area.

[bill1952]

Birds do not fly in storms.

[houeto]

Yep my great granny taught us all the old rhymes like the kittens who lost their mittens.

The one that always got me was Rock-a-Bye Baby. Twisted individual that came up with that one!

[StAntKnee]

BB guns and 41.67 pies. It’s only midmorning January 2, and already we have near-consecutive posts vying for post of the year.

[bill1952]

My favorite WKRP episode of all times :)

[BuckeyeTexan]

Yes, they flew out of Mena. It’s likely they were running, er flying, drugs.

[Republic of Texas]

Classic!

[dfwgator]

What was the last thing they ate?

Did they have the chicken or the fish?

[Upstate NY Guy]

I am way over 35 and I have no idea what it means.

Sing a song of six pence
Pocket full of rye
Four and Twenty Black Birds
Backed in a pie.

1000 / 24 = 41.666...

[Jack Hydrazine]

Blackbirds In a Pie

Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the king?
The king was in his counting house counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!

[deport]

A dead bird lies on Skylark Street in Beebe, Ark. on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011. The Arkansas Game
and Fish Commission said Saturday more than 1,000 dead black birds fell from the sky in Beebe.
The agency said its enforcement officers began receiving reports about the dead birds about
11:30 p.m. Friday. (AP Photo/The Daily Citizen, Warren Watkins)

[bert]

There is really no such thing as “blackbirds”. There are grackles and starlings and Red Wing Blackbirds.

For the record, I recently reported to the Tennessee Ornithological Society two December sightings of an all white grackle.

[org.whodat]

Big damn shotgun!

[cripplecreek]

Those old children’s stories would be considered too traumatic for kids today.

Mr. McGregor. tried to kill Peter Rabbit with a hoe. LOL

[BuckeyeTexan]

Don’t be silly. He was counting out his money. Clearly the maid had motive (revenge) and opportunity (outside.)

[Moonman62]

Prolly shot with Beebe guns.

Or stuned with a Beebe like device.

[Jack Hydrazine]

What does 1000 have to do with it???

[FrankR]

BLACKBirds? Cue Jesse......

[Jack Hydrazine]

Stuned in the Beebe?

[hosepipe]

Winter bird feeders are spiked with a "surpise"..
Hope and change for some one that don't like black birds..

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Oooohhh...close.
I've been a birder since waayyy back when. What you have pictured there is definitely a Blackbird (note the orange/yellow beak and legs) and a Red Winged Blackbird (not a Red Wing Starling which is a completely different bird)....normally a marsh in habitant.

Below is a Starling...sometimes referred to as a Grackle or a Brewer's Blackbird. Note the black beak, black legs and the more iridescent plummage and a longer tail on a narrower body.

But, everyone has their own opinions and references on this subject. I've seen threads go on for many days on FR on what is a Blackbird and what's a Starling.