Hundreds of dead blackbirds found near New Roads (La)

[deminks]

http://www.wbrz.com/news/hundreds-of-dead-blackbirds-found-near-new-roads

LABARRE, La. - Around 500 dead blackbirds and starlings have been found in Pointe Coupee Parish, according to state wildlife officials.

The birds were spotted lying in roads and ditches near Labarre Elementary School. The community is between Morganza and New Roads on Highway 10.

Scientists from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries have been sent out to collect samples, which will be sent for testing to the University of Georgia and National Wildlife Center in Wisconsin.

This comes after about 5,000 blackbirds and swallows were found dead around Beebe, Ark. on New Year's Eve. Dr. Jim LaCour with LDWF said he's not sure the two incidents are connected.

(end snip)

New Roads is a little north (40 miles approx)of Baton Rouge.

[snagglepuss]

1. I wonder how often this sort of thing happens? Odd is an understatement.

[elleng]

2. WTH!

:wtf:

[PearliePoo2]

3. This is not good at all

Birds by the thousands falling from the sky, now in two places....fish washing up dead on stream banks.
What the hell is going on?
No..not at all good...:scared:

[Dover]

4. Is this yet another incident this week? I think the other was in Arkansas on New Years eve.

In fact I think that one happened right as the clock struck 12 which is even more suspicious than the obvious weirdness of the bird fall. And a big fish kill off about the same time in Arkansas.

Isn't it also 'interesting' that this is occurring almost three years to the day that another sudden bird kill occurred in Austin, Tx. That one was determined to be a combination of cold weather and a virus. All pretty flimsy.

My first thought is, what is the government testing now?

[emilyg]

5. My first thought, too.

[aquart]

6. Pelicans, too.

http://www2.wnct.com/news/2010/nov/23/14/rash-pelican-deaths-have-volunteers-crying-foul-ar-562762/

Majestic birds, with horrific injuries, though what’s causing them to die is now up for debate.

“From what we have right now we don’t think anybody is maliciously harming the pelicans,” said Sara Schweitzer from the Wildlife Resources Commission.

Schweitzer has been taking the dead birds toe the University of Georgia for autopsies.

-snip-

Some of the birds are actually broken apart at the joint and days at sea taking their toll on the bodies.

-more-

[rosesaylavee]

7. So... birds dying in LA, KY, NC and AR...

Don't remember any multi-state massive bird dieoffs before.

[OneGrassRoot]

13. KY and NC, too?

I haven't seen that. In the last few days? How could they all be tied together?

If you have links, I'd be grateful.

:hi:

[rosesaylavee]

18. Will try to find them...

Pelicans in NC upthread. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=112944&mesg_id=113036

And I think the KY story was another DU thread. (added on edit)http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x113425

[LeftinOH]

8. This one looks like a starling (maybe that's a Southern term for 'blackbird'?):

I just can't shed any tears for starlings. Still the number of dead birds across many species is shocking.

[deminks]

9. Yes, starlings, redwings and grackles have been identified. They flock together in the winter.

In North Carolina, there is an ongoing die off of pelicans.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. That may be a female. I've always thought that they looked a lot like starlings.

Female RedWinged Blackbird

[Vinnie From Indy]

11. Gee, I wonder if the Gulf Oil Spill and the millions of gallons of Corexit that was sprayed

might be the cause.

The revenge of the Gulf of Mexico on humanity. Poison my water and I'll START-OFF killing your birds.

[Kalyke]

15. I tend to agree with this.

I live in Tennessee and saw birds in my trees that had never before come this far inland (from the Southern coastal shores). I just felt in my bones they were coming inland to get away from the oil and the poisons.

However, on windy summer nights - at around 1 to 4 a.m., when it's quiet, my husband and I could sit on the back porch and smell that Corexit shit from that far away.

[BrklynLiberal]

16. Probably closer to the the truth than we will ever hear from the "authorities".

[madfloridian]

17. Many are thinking that.

But we will never know.

USF was doing some great work researching in the Gulf, but I have not seen anything from them on the news lately. Need to check it out.

[ileus]

12. HAARP

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. Saw a dead starling lying on the sidewalk in Chicago yesterday

Exactly like the birds pictured in the images upthread.

Anyone else feel like the very beginning of Camus' The Plague?