Spooky: Second New Year’s Eve in a Row That Blackbirds Fall Dead from the Sky in Arkansas (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on January 2, 2012
Last year, thousands of dead birds in Arkansas and Louisiana fell from the sky, littering streets and yards on New Year's Eve - it's happened again in Arkansas
Last year on New Year’s Eve, blackbirds flying over Louisiana and Arkansas fell dead from the sky. The bodies of thousands of dead birds littered roads, yards, roofs, and lakes.
Well, it’s happened again in Arkansas.
From Daily Mail, First sign of an apocalyptic year to come? Thousands of blackbirds fall to their death in Arkansas town for second New Year’s Eve in a row:
Ancient Mayan legend says that 2012 will bring the end of the world.
A small Arkansas town might have shown the first example of that as approximately 5,000 blackbirds dropped dead from the sky last night in the early hours of the new year.
As if the incident was not strange enough, it is the second time in two years that the birds have fallen as the calendar year changes.
‘I thought the Mayor was messing with me when he called me,’ said Milton McCullar, the street department supervisor in Beebe, Arkansas.
‘He got me up at 4:00 in the morning and told me we had birds falling out of he sky.’ Mr McCullar told ABC News.
Given the amount of birds and the condensed time and location of their deaths, there has to be some commonality behind the bizarre event, but scientists remain baffled.
The fact that the birds were even flying in the middle of the night makes no sense because that is not something that they are trained to do.
THV News: Dead blackbirds fall again in Ark. town where thousands fell from sky last year
From CNN, About 200 birds found dead in Arkansas city for second straight New Year’s Eve:
Someone went into a large roost of blackbirds in Beebe, Arkansas, as the clock struck midnight Saturday and set off fireworks, contributing to the deaths of scores of blackbirds, a state wildlife spokeswoman said.
Last New Year’s Eve, roughly 5,000 birds were found dead in a square-mile area in Beebe, a central Arkansas town about 35 miles northeast of Little Rock through which birds migrate and that is home to a large roost for the birds.
Fireworks last year caused otherwise healthy birds to become disoriented and “fly all over the place” into stationary objects, such as trees and buildings, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokeswoman Ginny Porter said.
Those birds’ deaths were likely “not intentional,” Porter added.
But questions remain about the intention of the person or persons who set off fireworks that killed about 200 blackbirds this weekend.
In light of the fatalities one year earlier, a state wildlife officer and Beebe police officers were patrolling the area mindful of the dangers that fireworks posed to the blackbirds, the wildlife spokesman noted.
Even so, 50 birds died when fireworks went off around 7 p.m. Saturday, said Porter, who added, “We don’t know where or who shot them (fireworks).”
The majority of the blackbird deaths occurred five hours later at midnight, in a bunch of trees, or roost, in a residential area.
Birds fall dead from sky in Beebe, Arkansas Again on New Years Eve – Caught on Radar 2012
From New York Daily News, Not again! Thousands of birds fall dead in Arkansas on New Year’s Eve:
Thousands of blackbirds dropped dead on New Year’s Eve in Arkansas in an incident eerily similar to one that occurred at the same time a year ago.
The disturbing deaths in Beebe, a city northwest of Little Rock, were sparked after loud fireworks sent flocks of the small birds into a panic, scientists said. This caused them to collide with each other, as well as power lines, houses and cars.
Officer John Weeks said the first reports of “birds on the streets” came around 7 p.m. as residents celebrated the year’s end with fireworks in their neighborhoods, The Associated Press reported.
Police worked with animal control workers to locate and clean up the bird bodies.
On New Year’s Eve 2010, an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 birds died from “blunt trauma” after they were similarly spooked by fireworks.
From Long Island Press, Dead Birds: Blackbirds Found Dead In Arkansas Again:
“The Birds” is coming to life once again this year. Similar to last year’s dead bird incident, thousands of blackbirds were found dead in central Arkansas.
Last year’s incident took place on New Year’s Eve when thousands of birds slammed into houses and cars, much like Hitchcock’s famous movie. The bird melee was attributed to fireworks that most likely spooked the birds and sent them plummeting to their deaths.
This New Year’s, dozens of birds were found dead again and officials believe that fireworks may be the reason too. It was around 7 p.m. when reports of dead birds were found littering the streets of an Arkansas town—It was around the same time residents were celebrating the new year with fireworks and according to the Associated Press, after the blackbirds were found dead, officers banned firework usage Saturday night.
The incident is still under investigation and it’s unknown at this time if additional dead birds were found after the fireworks were banned.
Last year, thousands of dead red-wing blackbirds fell in Beebe, Arkansas minutes into 2011, and before that, an estimated 100,000 drum fish were found dead in a nearby river.
Scene from Alfred Hitchcock's chilling 1963 film, 'The Birds' - second year in a row that birds fall dead over Arkansas on New Year's Eve
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