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In the name of God, Most
Gracious, Most Merciful |
A Sign of a Disaster Approaching
Thousands of Birds Falling
From the Sky
Esperance-AUSTRALIA
Jan 10, 2007
Birds fall from sky over town
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.
On Monday, Esperance, 725km southeast of Perth, was declared a natural disaster zone.
District nature conservation co-ordinator Mike Fitzgerald
said the first reports of birds dropping dead in people's yards came in
three weeks ago. More than 500 deaths had since been notified. But the calls
stopped suddenly last week, reportedly because no birds were left.
"It's very substantial. We estimate several thousand birds are dead, although we don't have a clear number because of the large areas of bushland," Mr Fitzgerald said.
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."
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.
On Monday, Esperance, 725km southeast of Perth, was declared a natural disaster zone.
"It's very substantial. We estimate several thousand birds are dead, although we don't have a clear number because of the large areas of bushland," Mr Fitzgerald said.
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."
Austin, Texas-USA
Dead
birds shut down street in Texas cityASSOCIATED PRESS
Jan 9, 2007
AUSTIN, Texas - Police shut down 10 blocks in downtown Austin for several hours Monday after 63 birds were found dead in the street, but officials said preliminary tests found no threat to people.
The dead birds were found overnight along Congress Avenue, a major downtown thoroughfare. Police closed the route through downtown and two side streets, and a staging area was set up near the Capitol, with dozens of fire trucks, police cars and ambulances.
The Dallas Morning News
Jan 10, 2007
Austin looks for answers after 63 dead birds close downtown
AUSTIN, Texas — Public health officials were scratching their heads over what killed more than 60 grackles, pigeons and sparrows found dead along Congress Avenue near Texas' Capitol on Monday morning, prompting a downtown lockdown that scrambled traffic and kept thousands of employees home from work.
Early-morning passers-by said the birds first began acting strange — wandering aimlessly in the street, attempting to fly and making crash landings — and then dropped like flies.
The Albuquerque Tribune
Jan 8, 2007
Gas odor in New York; dead pigeons in Austin
Authorities in New York were investigating the source of a mysterious gas-like odor today that wafted over a large part of Manhattan, from Rockefeller Center through Greenwich Village....
Idaho-USA
Reuters
Dec 13, 2006
Thousands of ducks mysteriously dying in Idaho
SALMON, Idaho, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Officials scrambled on Wednesday to determine what has caused the deaths of thousands of mallard ducks in south-central Idaho near the Utah border.......
Wildlife officials are calling the massive die-off alarming, with the number of dead mallards rising from 1,000 on Tuesday to more than 2,000 by Wednesday afternoon.....
"We've never seen anything like this -- ever," Parrish said.
Idaho-USA
King5.com
Jan 6, 2007
Barn Owls dying by Thousands along Idaho's I-84
Boise- The owls are being hit by vehicles in unusualy high numbers, and so far no one is certain why such a large amount is dying ........
Work is still being done to determine why the birds are putting themselves in the path of vehicles in such large numbers .
Maine-USA
SunJournal
Dec 19, 2006
Crows dying by the dozens
LEWISTON - Residents of the neighborhood next to the Promenade Mall are puzzled over dozens of dead crows that seem to be dropping from the sky......
Beaudoin said that hundreds of crows can usually be found hovering in the trees between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. every day.
"But in the last three or four days, the crows are nowhere to be found," he said. "It's quite eerie."......
Perreault, however, remains suspicious. He says such a simple answer doesn't jibe with the large number of dead crows he has seen.
The Peninsula
Jan 11, 2007
Lanka baffled by mass deaths of migratory birds
COLOMBO • Sri Lanka's veterinary authorities have begun tests on hundreds of migratory birds that dropped dead in two sanctuaries, health officials said yesterday.
Residents in Nikaweratiya, known to lie on a route taken by migratory birds, reported the mass deaths and public health and veterinary authorities have begun investigations, local officials said.
"We have sent samples to a university to check and we are awaiting a report," an official in Nikaweratiya said when contacted by telephone.
Reuters
Dec 18, 2006
France tests dead birds, does not suspect bird flu
PARIS, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Officials are carrying out tests to see what caused the deaths of some 4,000 chickens on a farm in northeastern France, but initial indications did not point to bird flu, the agriculture ministry said on Monday.
The ministry said in a statement that the birds died suddenly on Saturday while another 3,500 chickens at the same site appeared completely health.
"The clinical aspects (of the case) as well as the results of the autopsies do not especially indicate a diagnostic of bird flu," the statement said, adding that full results were not expected until Tuesday.
The owner of the farm told LCI television that it was "99 percent certain it is not bird flu".
Dec 19, 2006
Crows dying by the dozens
LEWISTON - Residents of the neighborhood next to the Promenade Mall are puzzled over dozens of dead crows that seem to be dropping from the sky......
Beaudoin said that hundreds of crows can usually be found hovering in the trees between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. every day.
"But in the last three or four days, the crows are nowhere to be found," he said. "It's quite eerie."......
Perreault, however, remains suspicious. He says such a simple answer doesn't jibe with the large number of dead crows he has seen.
Colombo-Srilanka
The Peninsula
Jan 11, 2007
Lanka baffled by mass deaths of migratory birds
COLOMBO • Sri Lanka's veterinary authorities have begun tests on hundreds of migratory birds that dropped dead in two sanctuaries, health officials said yesterday.
Residents in Nikaweratiya, known to lie on a route taken by migratory birds, reported the mass deaths and public health and veterinary authorities have begun investigations, local officials said.
"We have sent samples to a university to check and we are awaiting a report," an official in Nikaweratiya said when contacted by telephone.
FRANCE
Reuters
Dec 18, 2006
France tests dead birds, does not suspect bird flu
PARIS, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Officials are carrying out tests to see what caused the deaths of some 4,000 chickens on a farm in northeastern France, but initial indications did not point to bird flu, the agriculture ministry said on Monday.
The ministry said in a statement that the birds died suddenly on Saturday while another 3,500 chickens at the same site appeared completely health.
"The clinical aspects (of the case) as well as the results of the autopsies do not especially indicate a diagnostic of bird flu," the statement said, adding that full results were not expected until Tuesday.
The owner of the farm told LCI television that it was "99 percent certain it is not bird flu".