'Catastrophic': Now thousands of birds fall from sky

World Net Daily ^ | 1-9-07 | 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

[Fawn]

The mysterious catastrophe has taken place over a period of three weeks in Esperance, about 450 miles southeast of Perth. The area was declared a disaster zone by government officials.

So far, authorities are clueless as to the cause. Autopsies on the birds have shed no light.

The main casualties, according to Australian news sources, are wattle birds, yellow-throated miners, new holland honeyeaters and singing honeyeaters. Some dead crows, hawks and pigeons have also been found.

Some birds were seen convulsing when they died.

Wildlife officers are baffled by what they characterize as a "catastrophic" event. It does not appear to be weather-related.

District nature conservation coordinator Mike Fitzgerald said: "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."

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."

Just yesterday, some 60 birds fell out of the sky in Austin, Texas, without explanation.

The incident prompted street closings for several hours.

Officials said they had tested the air for dangerous substances but found nothing, and they declared the area safe.

The dead birds – grackles, sparrows and pigeons – were being checked for avian flu, but officials said they saw no symptoms of the illness and believed it more likely they had been poisoned, possibly deliberately, or affected by near-freezing weather.

[Fawn]

Hmm

[3AngelaD]

Didn't this happen in Austin a couple of days ago?

[ClearCase_guy]

Paging Charles Fort ...

[agere_contra]

Does anyboy know: have they actually found thousands of dead birds, or this a "Lancet-style" extrapolation from sixty corpses?

[Dixie Yooper]

Why does George Bush hate birds?

[sarasota]

Testing the air after the fact? Seems to me that would be pointless, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

[El Sordo]

He only hates blackbirds, really.

[Fawn]

Yes...I believe it was in Texas....

[Fawn]

Some birds were seen convulsing when they died.

Like Saddam Husseins dogs that he gassed.

[gleeaikin]

bird flu ping?

[Concho]

Sounds like Avitrol.

[Dixie Yooper]

I hear he never liked Dodo birds either. Look what happened to them.

[concerned about politics]

Birds fly. No other species does that. Maybe they didn't test the air high enough?
If it were food related, other species eat seeds, insects, scraps, etc. They'd be dead, too.
It has to be because of something only birds can do, and that would be flying.

[ctdonath2]

Does testing before the fact make sense?

[Northern Yankee]

Hunches?

[Beckwith]

The dead birds – grackles, sparrows and pigeons

No problem there -- it's the songbirds that would be missed.

[Arrowhead1952]

Sure did. I posted the original thread

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1764007/posts

[Fierce Allegiance]

Birds fly. No other species does that.

You sure about that?

[SMARTY]

Is Austin on the same latitude as Esperance?

[beansox]

LOL~

[Renegade]

Bats!!

[Blueflag]

Bats and insects and beetles might take issue, eh?

[ClearCase_guy]

Does testing before the fact make sense?

If it saves one bird ...

[cricket]

Anything happening in 'North Korea'? Birds fine in Iran? How about Venezuela. . .birds ok there?

[El Sordo]

A fly can't bird, but a bird can fly.
Ask me a riddle and I reply:
Cottlestone, cottlestone, cottlestone pie.

[duckman]

"No problem there -- it's the songbirds that would be missed."

You are kidding, right?

[cricket]

Why does George Bush hate birds? lol. . .

[GOPologist]

It's really hard to "blame" Bush. However, let's blame the demos. Why? These birds died after the demos assumed leadership. Therefore, it is their fault.

Right?

[cricket]

Sounds like AvitrolSeems to me that they have had enough time to diagnose; at this point. . .

[concerned about politics]

Birds fly. No other species does that.

You sure about that?

LOL. OK. You got me.
I mean without a protective metal shell surrounding them.

[Graybeard58]

Bats!!

No need for name calling just because he said birds are the only species that fly. I've read Fierce Allegiance's posts for a long time and I wouldn't call him bats.

[Cicero]

Were they perspiring? Probably it was global warming.

[never4get]

This sounds like an X-Files episode if you ask me....

[Graybeard58]

Could it have anything to do with the odor that was recently detected in N.Y.C.?

I read a thread recently that the same odor was smelled in North Carolina, New Jersey and Texas.

[Fierce Allegiance]

Hey, I AM NOT the one that made the claim.

'preciate the comment, though! :)

[Ciexyz]

I don't believe in coincidences.

[Broker]

Gotta be solar flairs.

[Sacajaweau]

Convulsing like Litvinenko? That's a scarey scenario. I hope they test them for the cr** that killed Litvinenko. Apparently, very hard to detect.

[Graybeard58]

oops! My mistake. Not my first one either.

[Ciexyz]

Suspicious, isn't it.

[Fierce Allegiance]

They call a form of insect a "fly" for a reason, and they don't have protective metal shells, either.

Besides, species would refer to a specific type of bird, so there are thousands of species of birds, nearly all of which fly.

[dangus]

CATASTROPHE?
I'm thinking the cats sorta like the idea of thousands of MREs falling from the sky...

[Fierce Allegiance]

or solar flares. LOL!

[Fierce Allegiance]

No worries, FRiend!

[dangus]

>> The dead birds ... more likely they had been poisoned, possibly deliberately, or affected by near-freezing weather. <<

That's what *I* call a cold front!

[LIConFem]

Avian version of Capt. Tripps? Was the first dead bird's name Campion?

[Argus]

Birds falling out of the sky I can handle. But when it comes to frogs...

[reagan_fanatic]

Republican-created global warming and Rosie O'Donnell emissions did 'em in.

[Ciexyz]

Those precious birds are God's little creatures, IMHO.

[Oberon]

No other species does that.

Except for bats...but that's beside the point.