I originally wrote this in August 2009, after Nathan and I witnessed the middle of a flock of birds falling out of the sky. In light of recent events with birds dropping dead in Arkansas, Louisiana and now Sweden, I thought I’d repost it.
***
A few days ago, our local newspaper ran a story on sparrows being found dead throughout Hobart, or disappearing entirely.
Nathan and I read it and remarked that there were entirely too many sparrows about in our parts and good riddance. We were talking about it again today as we were driving. We pointed out the huge flocks of sparrows (and starlings) sitting on the fences and power lines.
Then we saw the weirdest thing ever.
A group of sparrows flew towards the road. There were probably 50-60 birds? As they flew in a group, they banked over the Highway to turn around …
… and the middle just fell out of the group. Mid flight, twenty birds dropped to the ground dead. Nathan and I were stunned. It wasn’t the kind of thing we were expecting to see at all.
As we drove through the dead birds littering the Highway, I peered out of the window expecting to see one or two shaking out their feathers and hopping away, stunned, but not dead.
No.
They were dead.
Twenty or so birds, just fell out of the sky with no warning. All at once.
30 metres up the road, another six or seven birds were dead in a group on the road.
It was honestly the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen.
Ever.
***
Afterwards, the deaths were deemed to be caused by Salmonella poisoning, but I’m not convinced. Surely if it were Salmonella poisoning, they would have died on the ground, not on the wing and all at once?
Comments
58 responses to “Birds falling from the sky?”
Please tell me you took a photo? That is freaking me out.
Geez that is very Twilight Zone indeed.
Actually I could imagine it being a scene in a M.Night S movie…bizarro!
That is so weird! I wonder why?!
Kerri – I didn’t have my camera and we were driving, so no photos. But definitely the weirdest thing ever. I wish I’d had my camera, I would have photographed it.
Also, can anyone imagine what would happen if you were walking underneath them when it happened? I’d hate to have dead birds rain all over me.
Wow, okay. That is very weird. I can’t even imagine what’s going on there. I’m off to google!
How very, very odd? I wonder if it’s some kind of disease??
Small birds are environmental indicators. Like frogs they are often the first to suffer environmental stress. This is really strange Von, Maybe it is time to re-read Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. Then again can sparrows get the flu? The H1N1 virus is a swine/bird flu combination. Then just to be totally paranoid isn’t it one of the prophecies in the bible that birds will start to fall from the sky? Ack…
Spooky!!
That is so odd… you should tell your local paper about it!
That’s just weird. It’s probably some avian disease or other – but I’m hoping someone has notified the authorities. The dead ones need to be examined – someone needs to figure out why they died, because it doesn’t seem natural. The other possibility, of course, is that somehow they were poisoned. Again, someone needs to figure out why they died.
Freaky but last year thousands of birds just dropped dead in and around Esperance. Turned out to be lead carbonate poisoning. The dust was blowing around from the stuff being exported from the port there. Since been a lot of problems with high levels of lead found in the local children. The export has been stopped but there is a move to now use the port at Fremantle – go figure!
Creepy. I wonder why…
That’s scary! It sounds like there is some disease going around the sparrows!
I know how the fuckers feel.
Some days I just can’t be arsed flapping either.
That is so strange. I googled it and couldn’t find anything about it except in 2007 this happened and it was the H5N1 (avian flu).
So strange! Take some pictures if you can!
I agree with Lceel. Someone should make certain the authorities know about the event. With all the media hype about the swine flu being worse next year, I can only imagine that the birds are infected too.
this really creeps me out.
That is just a tad freaky!
XBox4NappyRashs comment made me spit coffee everywhere and I’m still laughing. Seriously tho — even if it is a disease what would make so many of them drop down dead at the same time??? Just so WEIRD! You’d think if it was sparrow flu they would be dying in ones and twos.
Okay, that’s a bit creepy! It makes you wonder if it’s an omen of some sort, like humans will start dropping dead next – that’s scary!
Oh … and if they can figure out a way to include crows in this, I’m all for it. Damn crows!
thats so weird..
i wonder what is killing them..
That’s actually pretty freakin’ scary. I’ve never seen a bird fall out of the sky dead unless it flew in front of my car.
sorry I have been so busy,,, I am caught up it hurt to think of what you go through everyday,, I think as a mother I would just want to pick you up and set you on a shelf. I know you can not do that.. I see what you DO and as a mother again I would be very PROUD of you.
The baby is so cute and Amy is getting so big,,,
the whole bird thing is just creepy!
Please have a good weekend and know that I am still here and think of you often.
HUGS!
I also agree with lceel that the cause should be found. Wish you’d had the camera with you. You need to take it everywhere so as never to miss a photo opportunity.
Scary and freaky, can’t find anything online except for reports of deliberate poisonings.
It’s like you were living an Alfred Hitchcock movie!
That’s really bizarre and unnatural. Regardless of whether the world is better off with a few less sparrows, I hope they figure out what’s causing it.
I deliberately waited to comment, hoping there was an explanation forthcoming. If the birds were sick, the stress of a longish flight could take them out at the same time. I guess.
that is so WEIRD.
This is a very bad year for birds all around the world. I wonder if it’s disease… but why the MIDDLE of the flock of birds and not some from the front, the middle and the back?
I was telling somebody that we keep finding dead birds in our city suburban yard, and every time I talk about it, other people say “We’re finding dead birds, TOO!!!”
Whoa – weird.
The falling birds were from the middle,yes? I wonder if perhaps the beating wings all around created a sudden vacuum, depriving the middle birds of oxygen, causing them to suddenly die? Sort of like the canaries in cages that used to be taken down into mines. As long as the canary was okay, the air was good to breathe and work in. As soon as the air went bad, the canary died and the miners would all scramble up out of the mine as fast as they could.
Haven’t been on line much this week but that is just weird. XBox4NappyRash’s comment just about sums up how I feel on occasion! Take care Veronica have read previous posts also.
That is the STRANGEST thing I’ve ever heard of. It’s like something out of a creepy movie.
How odd. Very Hitchcock.
Sorry, but that would have freaked the HELL out of me…
[…] Remember the birds that fell from the sky? Apparently they’ve been dying of Salmonella. […]
How crazy!
I came across your post here, after i was doing a bit of research on the 2012 theory, in relation to something i read about the earth’s magnetic field. I think i can understand why this happened. If you research our magnetic field, you will find that a lot of animals and birds rely on the magnetic field to navigate. I found out that our magnetic field has been weakening drastically and quick, according to scientific research. This might explain why birds are mysteriously dropping out of the sky, planes are falling, fish are dying, bats are dying, etc. I didn’t know all of this until i googled it. As far as the 2012 theory, there is some scientific research to back it up. Not sure about the exact date they are claiming, but due to recent events, i do believe something is about to happen. I read somewhere on the internet that the magnetic field weakens just before a magnetic pole reversal/shift. Since we are seeing a weakening of the shift, this explains why bees are leaving the hives and not returning, and all of what i mentioned earlier. Some bees are even dying out. It’s scary to think about, but i’m sure what you witnessed is even scarier. I recommend doing some research through Google. You might be surprised at what you find. I sure was! Try typing in “birds fell from sky”, “hundreds of fish found dead/ washed ashore”, “magnetic field weakening”, and “relies on magnetic field to navigate”. I found 2 dead birds in my yard not long ago, and just read about thousands of birds falling from the sky back in 2007 in Australia and somewhere else. Scary stuff.
this happened tonight out here in pompano beach florida tonight, hench the research, about 2am as we were leaving the beach we first noticed a good number of birds flying out of a tree and flying around the general area then come to notice not to far ahead on the intersection about 20 birds just laying there motionless all withing feet from eachother dead.. and no where else… as we starred also seeing another fall right out of the sky and just thud on the floor, beyond the most stunning and disbelieving thing ive ever seen.. hope someone finds some answers on this! im still looking.
@ Irish Wop Bastard and Linda
Apparently our bird deaths were being caused by Salmonella. http://somedaywewillsleep.com/small-things/
idk, im open to anything, but to kill them all at once, all in the same area as well? (about 20 or so dead all with-in a 30 foot circle) and the fact there was a whole group of them just flying around at 2 in the mourning as if it was day light out?
Very odd.
hey irish wop…was it a circle? or just within so many feet. if it was a circle, static electricity may be to blame? crop circle theories point to static electricity moving to the ground while wind comes over a hill like a drift on an airplane wing. also, where was it in relation to the airport? i wonder if it may have also been seen by air traffic control as a loss in communication? there have been reports of planes going down the same way, with magnetic interference supposedly to blame. static electricity is caused by a large number of electrons grounding out, same as lightning. i wonder if these occurrences are in relation to something grounding through the air and wind and through or into the birds, planes, superman(joke) etc. or polarization switching like some sort of positive ground or something??? who knows!
shame there’s no more posts as of the new year…
one last thing… http://www.haarp.net
possible cause?
Thought you might be interested in this latest incident.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1256840/Mystery-scores-starlings-fall-sky-lay-dying–single-garden.html
That is scary as sin! I would’ve freaked out! As is, this whole scenario recently is really scary. I wonder what the planet is trying to tell us…or rather what the birds and fish and crabs are trying to tell us
For those of you who are wondering why all the birds are just dropping out of the sky dead and the fish are dying all over the world…
“I will sweep away both man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea—
… and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.”
“When I destroy all mankind
on the face of the earth,”
declares the LORD, Zephaniah 1:3
kinda scary when you think about it book of Revelations
So if the birds and fish are being swept away, what’s next?
Janurary 7 2011/ It just happened again in Quebec Canada . Just a few weeks ago 80 birds dropped out of the sky DEAD. Google it Ark, and Louisiana Now Quebec Canada.. Something is wrong with this picture Big Time.
It’s the end of the world people. Think about it. There is more pestilence, more poverty, more killings than ever before. Profecy is starting to come true. It’s going to come “like a thief in the night” is what it says in the bible. We just don’t know when. I think it will be in our generation…
Gordana: any proof to back up your assertions regarding an ostensible increase in pestilence, poverty and killings?
With regards to poverty: http://www.gapminder.org/videos/gapcasts/gapcast-4-globalization/ – this is, however, absolutely not to say that poverty not still a huge problem and one that embarrasses our so-called civilized society.
As far as ‘pestilence’ goes, modern medicine has eradicated and attenuated the effect of many many diseases. Can you think of any recent epidemic to rival the black death in the 14th century that killed almost a quarter of the world’s population?
With killings, are we including wars? There is certainly a lot of coverage of wars nowadays but I struggle to think of anything out of the ordinary recently in terms of numbers of deaths – the second and first world wars were far more destructive in terms of numbers of people killed than anything we’ve seen since.
I believe that the first Ice Age was set off by the tilting of our Earth on it’s axis just a tiny little bit. It messes with the electromagnetic field and how birds and fish use sonar to navigate just like planes do. So when that is thrown off they are thrown off and can crash like a pilot in a plane who does not know where the horizon is. It would explain why it is happening all over the world at the same time and also how freaking cold this winter seems to be so far. I am sure it will be many many years until the affects will turn it all into an ice age again but logic prevails on this one.
this is happening for a reason… birds dont just die in large groups like that this happened because the earth has tilted… it has tilted 40 miles, birds have sonar which was mentioned in another comment and they use that to navigate, things like this are happening all over the world and not just with birds. this is not on set by salmonella or any type of disease because they would not die in mid flight and all at once. has any one noticed how this was on of the coldest and snowiest winter on record and how numerous earthquakes and volcanoes have been occurring way before anticipated all i have to say is dont be afraid to live your life up because we dont know how much longer we have…maybe the Mayans were right…
hey Folks,
someone needs to link these stories up ’cause before I left the UK shores for New Zealand in early Jan this year I read several reports of bird flocks (all sparrows I think) dropping dead out of the sky – most of these were sourced from the USA and one in the UK. Just a few days ago in South Island, NZ, there was a news report of 300 sparrows found dead in a small town.
Something is definetly afoot but what !?