BREAKING: Hundreds more dead birds reported in Texas

The Examiner ^ | January 6, 2011 | Howard Portnoy

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

A TV station in the East Texas town of Tyler reports that hundreds more dead birds have been discovered along the sides of a highway bridge. This news adds fresh fuel to a growing conundrum over the cause of hundreds of thousands of avian deaths in localities thousands of miles apart.

The station, KLTV, acknowledges that around 200 birds were found dead this morning on state highway 155. The birds, identified as American coots or mud-hens, are the first of this species to be cited in the recent spate of deaths. As with previous cases, the cause of death is not immediately apparent.

The Army Corps of Engineers office at Lake O' the Pines, the community where the birds were found, suggests that the birds may have been struck and killed by motor vehicles as the birds walked, roosted, or flew on and around the bridge. A spokesperson from that office claims to have witnessed similar phenomena on roadways and bridges in other parts of Texas and insists the incident is likely unrelated to the Arkansas situation.

Charlie Muller, a biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Administration, notes that bird deaths, while not uncommon, seldom occur in numbers this large. As to the likely cause of death, Muller speculates:

The birds could have been spooked by a boat coming through that area, [or by] a bird of prey such as a bald eagle.

These explanations, while reasonable, would do more to quell rampant concerns over the deaths if the occurrences were isolated. However, they are not. Texas now becomes the fourth state—after Arkansas, Louisiana, and Kentucky—to experience mass bird deaths, which have now also been reported on another continent, Europe.

[Mr. Jazzy]

This time it has GOT to be Bush’s fault!

[seedman81]

Run for your lives! It's Global Warming/cooling!

[rdl6989]

Okay, this is getting weird.

[bunkerhill7]

Birds of a Feather

Faint Together

[Bridge_toofar]

Only 1 explanation possible...some strain of fast spreading BIRD FLU! Either a virus or fungus is infecting the birds.

[SteamShovel]

Okay, this is getting weird.

Not really.....

.....I haven't heard of any fish falling from the sky lately...

[null and void]

pingaroonie

[Safrguns]

In the military, we were trained to immediately dawn protective gear and give the “Gas” alarm when such signs as mass animal deaths were seen.

It’s ok though folks... no need for us to worry... nobody wants to kill us... Really!

We are not at war... we are simply conducting police actions against terrorists... oops... criminals.

Move along... nothing to see here.

[omega4179]

Yes.
It is officially NOT fireworks, earthquakes, thunderstorms, Dick Cheney,or BP. This is worldwide.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=201817256339889828327.0004991bca25af104a22b

[Cementjungle]

Only 1 explanation possible...some strain of fast spreading BIRD FLU!

Most of the past cases of this have been some sort of bird flu. Of course until recent years we didn't hear about them (no Internet hysteria factor until recently).

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Boy, this story is really for the birds.

[hennie pennie]

*bookmark*

[deport]

Dead Birds Near Lake O' The Pines Attributed To Vehicles

Raymond Hedges, the environmental stewardship business line manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Jefferson, said coots -- medium-sized water birds that do not fly well -- are migrating across the Texas Highway 155 bridge at dusk and being hit by cars.

“This has been going on for two months, it happens every year,” he said. “There's not much you can do about it.”

He said at dusk, they move from shallow to deeper water and have been getting hit by cars since they started migrating.

end snip

[Valpal1]

Fireworks, earthquakes and bad weather also occur worldwide.

Mass bird deaths, especially of flocking species is not new. What’s new is the media flogging the stories with bated breath and conspiracy winks and nods.

[taxtruth]

The birds could have been spooked by a boat coming through that area, [or by] a bird of prey such as a bald eagle.

Sounds like another NO NOTHING socalled expert/idiot giving his worthless 2 cents worth.

[Bronzy]

Weird, agree. Here in Indianapolis the officials set off some kind of blast noises to prevent the blackbirds from nesting in the city parks for the winter. Apparently, city dwellers want them to move to the burbs.

[bobby.223]

Darn that is quite a list and map. I had no idea it was that widespread.

[BuckeyeTexan]

Has anyone tracked the various latitudes and longitudes of the jet stream on the specific days of these incidents? I’m wondering if these events occurred along various points at the edge of it.

[plain talk]

fireworks