Posted on 01/10/2007 10:56:23 AM PST by 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.
Bats!!
Bats and insects and beetles might take issue, eh?
If it saves one bird ...
Anything happening in 'North Korea'? Birds fine in Iran? How about Venezuela. . .birds ok there?
A fly can't bird, but a bird can fly.
Ask me a riddle and I reply:
Cottlestone, cottlestone, cottlestone pie.
"No problem there -- it's the songbirds that would be missed."
You are kidding, right?
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?
You sure about that?
LOL. OK. You got me.
I mean without a protective metal shell surrounding them.
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.
Were they perspiring? Probably it was global warming.
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.
Hey, I AM NOT the one that made the claim.
'preciate the comment, though! :)
I don't believe in coincidences.
Gotta be solar flairs.
Convulsing like Litvinenko? That's a scarey scenario. I hope they test them for the cr** that killed Litvinenko. Apparently, very hard to detect.
oops! My mistake. Not my first one either.
Suspicious, isn't it.
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