Birds are a major danger to those planes.
The area where it went down is a prime area for the snow and Canada geese.
I am so glad you said that. I live in Delaware and my first thought was the thousands and thousands of snow geese now migrating here. Don't know if that was the cause but there are so many it's like living snow.
Then I thought...Nah...a bird wouldn't bring down a big plane like that. But these birds are everywhere right now.