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Thousands of birds fall from sky

news.com.au — Thousands of birds from different species perish near the Western Australian town of Esperance. "It went to the point where we had nothing, not a bird," say residents. "It was like a moonscape, just horrible. But the frightening thing for us, we didn't find any more birds after that. We literally didn't have any birds left to die."

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  • KzooJosh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4More information about this can be found here:

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1820773.htm
    • jrob, on 10/12/2007, -7/+28This documentary offers a pretty good explanation
      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298814/
    • 2tomato, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20yesterday in Austin too
      http://www.digg.com/environment/Breaking_news_Downtown_Austin_shutdown_due_to_dead_birds
      bad sign. bad sign.
      we're all going to die.
      don't panic!
      don't panic!
    • omatsei, on 10/12/2007, -10/+26Um... sorry about that. I had a bean burrito.
    • Avogadro65, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6This documentary makes me feel this is a good thing

      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056869/
    • timmyboywonder, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12Report Beachbabe to myspace and lets get his account banned yet another time http://collect.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=misc.contactInput&primarySubject=2&secondarySubject=11
    • jblade, on 10/12/2007, -21/+4... BUT WILL THE BIRDS BLEND!!

      ... dig me down
    • Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Did these birds have any political or religious leanings we should be aware of?

      If I didn't laugh, I'd cry.
    • KiaserLies, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3aliens done that
    • abo46n2, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5Notice how ABC news says "...for the deaths of more than 100 birds..." while the Aussie news source says thousands. That's a big difference. Interesting...
    • BESTenemy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Hmm. Same thing happened to my hometown about 3 years ago. There are still no birds and there were lots of them before. Only thing I know is that that correlates with the time a nuclear waste processing facility got built about 1000km off up the river stream. At the same time something else happened. All the roaches disappeared and that is very strange, as most of us are led to believe that their DNA is among the most stable ones, letting them survive through most severe conditions. Also, the disappearing of the birds would mean the insects would have less predators to hunt them.

      All I know is that it's all very strange and all the local media never made a fuss about it. There are no roaches and no birds. Ants are fine. Animals seem to be fine and people don't have hair or teeth falling out.

      It's just freaky, when you know something's happening and everyone pretends things are fine.

      It worries me that we are more concerned with iPhone's release. It's all over the front pages, and it takes our mind completely off serious problems. We started bombing Somalia. I'd be more concerned about that, yet, somehow the new cell phone is a bigger deal. I don't know what to say.
    • zybch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11"Notice how ABC news says "...for the deaths of more than 100 birds..." while the Aussie news source says thousands. That's a big difference. Interesting.."

      The ABC in this case is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation!
      Stop being so ***** US centric, there is a world outside your borders, this world has things with the same names but that are very different from your familiar american stuff.
    • Ramtech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1this has something to do with those parasites that take over the snails..
    • resplence, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ BESTenemy: what is your hometown?
  • nstanosheck, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10First Texas, now Australia! Sheesh!
    • blinkcowz182, on 10/12/2007, -26/+6Pics or it didn't happen
    • grooviekenn, on 10/12/2007, -15/+9@blinkcowz182: "Pics or it didn't happen"

      PLEASE tell me you aren't serious.

      This could be an example of what's wrong with our education system!
    • CoskuT, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7@ grooviekenn
      You didn't get the memo? If its not on tv or the internet, theres no proof what do they expect us to do? Imagine?! Ha.

      /Sarcasm
    • Cerebral, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You know it started out as a joke however with all the propaganda and the open ways of the internet almost any story could be "true". I believe the story however I would like to see some pictures just because I am curious.
  • Junkyarddawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Someone spraying pesticides and/or poisoning a waterhole to kill the birds is the most likely explanation. People don't necessarily like having birds around. An entire jackdaw colony not far from where I live, with several hundred birds, was killed by a local homeowner who put out poisoned bait because he felt the birds were noisy.
    • mtwoar, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5I blame aliens.
    • TheCount, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Were the police contacted? I'm pretty sure it isn't exactly legal to just poison any creature you happen to find annoying unless they are actually in your home or causing damage to your property.
    • thesteampunk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@TheCount

      In Austin, TX it is legal to poison certain types of birds as long as you do not cause harm to humans or other local animals in the process.
    • TomFrost, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17Pesticides? Pssh. I bet the core of the Earth stopped rotating. But no problem, because I've been developing this metal that converts heat to electricity and never melts, and I've procured six nuclear bombs and a device that destroys everything but diamonds. We're saved!
    • wonkavsn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Wouldn't that have shown up in autopsies?
    • Gryffydd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12That's not a bad idea....I've got these noisy neighbors...
    • Sodathief, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Thank you for an kinda optimistic response. Seriously though bird deaths or not were ***** doomed.
  • eastbeast314, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Oh crap. Next come the drugged-up hobos and then the zombies...and then Serial Killer X!
  • starrd, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4truly horribly sad
  • TonyCubed, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17It's turning out to be like that ***** film 'The Core' :P
  • tuxidomasx, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2pics?
  • n3mi5y5, on 10/12/2007, -27/+7in Soviet Russia, Sky falls on YOU!
    • brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -13/+16for the 10 MILLIONTH time....

      "In Soviet Russia..." is not funny and it never will be. Take that ***** to Slashdot
    • Lutz, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14Actually, they are funny when done right, it's just that... people often make lame "soviet russia" jokes.
      Edit: which of course is the case here...
    • brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14Unfortunately, on Digg they are rarely if ever done right.
  • 2tomato, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Unless birds fall from the sky is ok. I'd be really scared if they were cows.
    • tankdilla, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I'd be scared if they were pigs trying to learn to fly.
  • brickne3, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Hello! This is obviously the work of Bird Flu! Australia must be quarantined!
  • Arahka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I find it sort of strange that this kind of thing happened in TX as well, although on a much smaller scale. I wonder if there's any connection.
  • catalysis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8They probably spontaneously combusted due to global warming.
    • sv650touring, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Don't make Global Warming jokes, that ***** ain't funny. The earth used to be COVERED in beautiful glaciers, but where are they now?
  • GreySpec, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@ catalysis

    Precisely... Sounds exactly like what happened in the movie "The Core"
  • gallagherFTW, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1bird flu whaaaa? lol
  • heaintheavy, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1What if they fell because they ran into cloaked alien spaceships?! AHHHHHHHH

    OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG

    PANIC
  • trouble916, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah, what happened to the autopsy results from Austin, TX? Weren't they supposed to get the lab tests back within a week?

    Scary!
    • enharmonix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hmm, but I think that was only 2 days ago (as of this post). CDC results aren't due back for at least 2 weeks (or was it 4?), which are the ones I'm interested in.
  • leftfoot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Weird, happened where I live a few days ago...

    (Austin, TX)
  • uberdesigner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is some scary *****.
  • themulf, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3It must of been caused by all the over excitement from all the wonderful proteins we pump in the air and water!
  • 3leggedHorse, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5They flew into a cloaked alien ship that is hovering in the area.
  • grooviekenn, on 10/12/2007, -9/+25-bury me-
  • techwrekfix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This sounds like the begin of that bad movie" The Core". A little scary.
    • yuriko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1where's Hitchcock with a camera when you need him. pity he's dead.
  • Massif, on 10/12/2007, -10/+1The article says over 100, not thousands.

    Marked as inaccurate.
    • desiv, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9From the Article:
      "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," Mr Fitzgerald said.

      I'd say that's how it becomes thousands. Is this an "RTFA" issue or just a sign of current reading comprehension levels?

      You, sir, are inaccurate!! :-)

      desiv
    • Massif, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Oops, I was reading the article that the first commenter posted...my bad.
  • rgsunico, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2What is it with randomly dying birds now? First the Austin, Texas birds, then Austria...for all we know it's all related to the strange smell in New York as well, hehe.

    Strange times.
    • mdorsey0, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0thats a lovely accent you have there..new jersey? austria? haha, well then...g'day mate! lets throw another shrimp on the barbie!
  • foyaeman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Yes...sounds alot like the movie.."The Core".

    Next up, we need a nerd, a pilot and some co-pilots to delve into the earth :P
  • CingleMolt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Birds got early rapture.
  • vegasmacguy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4In other news Australian officials are trying to figure out what caused the thousands of tiny cracks in the worlds largest sliding glass door just outside of Esperance.
  • waitwtf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Combined with the Austin, TX and New York City incidents this week, the official paranoia explanation is testing of bioweapon or chemical weapon dispersal (see how far the smell goes, see how many birds you can kill in an area with a toxin that targets them, etc). Of course, when thousands or more die due to an actual release of a biological or chemical weapon, it will be blamed on terrorists, when the real explanation is simply culling of the 'unnecessary' people of the planet so they quit demanding resources quite necessary for maintaining the living standards of the elites.

    No, no, wait....it's that 'Core' movie thing...really.
  • DigitalBrian, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1How did 100+ birds become 1000+ ?
    • bigwyrm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3RTFA

      > More than 500 deaths had since been notified. But the calls
      > stopped suddenly last week, reportedly because no birds were left&.
      >
      > "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," Mr Fitzgerald said.
  • mattysan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Colorado too:

    http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=14007

    • agentVivid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3yes this is scary. I definitely think the Government is withholding information. This is a worldwide epidemic that's probably only being noticed in urban areas. I'd be willing to bet that Tuesday saw birds falling from the sky accross the world.
    • jwpowless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4From your Colorado story:
      "Morley said he wouldn’t have reported the incident had his wife not mentioned a news report that Austin, Texas, shut down 10 city blocks after discovering dozens of dead birds there Monday. Esperance, a coastal town in West Australia, also reported Monday that several thousand birds mysteriously dropped dead out of the skies."

      Stuff like this happens all the time, it just doesn't get noticed or reported until everyone gets hyper.

  • vroom101, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Pics

    1. Yellow-throated Miner
    http://www.ws-hbs.de/bilder/red_center/kings_canyon/bild22.html


    2. Red Wattle
    http://coomacats.bravehost.com/birds.html

    http://www.uisgebeatha.org/redwattlebird_6295.jpg
    via http://www.uisgebeatha.org/kangarooisland_oct2004.html


    3. New Holland Honeyeater
    http://www.uisgebeatha.org/newhollandhoneyeater_6095.jpg
    via http://www.uisgebeatha.org/kangarooisland_oct2004.html


    4. Singing Honeyeater
    http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/picpages/pic173-74-1.html


    5. Crow
    http://www.cherryduke.com/japan/pages-day01/crow.htm


    6. Hawk
    http://shelob.cyberstreet.com/sccf/Birds/red%20shouldered%20hawk.JPG
    via http://shelob.cyberstreet.com/sccf/Birds/?S=A

    http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20050805.htm (Fish hawk or Osprey)
    http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20060803.htm (Osprey)

    http://www.rockleigh.org/Recreation/Images/Bird/Hawk_Broad-winged.jpg
    http://www.rockleigh.org/Recreation/Images/Bird/redtailhawk.jpg
    via http://www.rockleigh.org/toc.htm


    7. Pigeon

    http://www.knmnyn.com/gallery/JurongBirdPark/Crowned_Pigeon_2 (Crowned Pigeon)

    http://www.tsuru-bird.net/doves/pigeon_band-tailed1b.jpg (Band-tailed Pigeon)
    via http://www.tsuru-bird.net/image.htm
  • mark101, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1were the trolls always here (in comments)or are they new?
  • sketchstudios, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4isn't a bit strange how we're seeing birds dying and falling out of the sky and the officials are saying its probably a toxin or chemical in the air or something,

    but wait, wasn't there just a story on digg about how there was some weird odor/gassy type thing all over NY and NJ? and then that Austin thing...

    I'm not a professional detective or anything but doesn't this spark SOME bell going off in peoples heads that there must be a reason to why these events are all happening in a relatively short amount of time from one another?
    • dknighton, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2There's ALWAYS a weird, gassy odor in New Jersey. There's often one in New York, too (usually floating over from New Jersey). A government conspiracy? Probably not. Too much Taco Bell? More likely.
    • richpav, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Here's my conspiracy theory. Al-Qaeda has made it known to the US government that it has the capability of killing millions of people worldwide using poison gas attacks. To demonstrate the leathality of they gas, and that their operatives are in place and ready to strike at a moment's notice, they have released minute amounts in Austin, Texas and Australia. To show that they can blanket an entire city, they conducted a test run with their delivery system loaded with a foul-smelling in NYC. If the government doesn't respond to their demands, they will inform the media of the real reason behind these events, causing widespread panic.

      Of course, as we speak Jack Baur and his team are working around the clock to prevent a terrorist attack that's on a scale the world has never seen.
    • ylikone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The smell in NY has happened before, without the coincidental birds dying in other parts of the world. Birds dying in large groups happens. So now, since it was reported in one place, everybody starts reporting it when they see it, making it seem like it's a new phenomena happening.
  • krakkinem, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I've got my "Apocalypse Pistol" ready to go, in case the ***** really does hit the fan. It's a gun that I have for the sole purpose of blowing my brains out in case the world comes to an end, in order to save myself from a gory, painful end such as being eaten by zombie birds or burning in a nuclear holocaust.

    I'm going out on MY terms!
  • rowlodge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2"The Andromeda Strain"
  • desiv, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9By the way, aren't we forgetting the most plausible explanation?

    Of course, I'm referring to a mass bird suicide cult..
  • BarneyXP, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1hmm possibly they were blended... video on youtube...
  • Phoenix99, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1death from above?
  • umdigger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3The government is testing out their new high frequency laser gun from space. Right now it's just tuned to the resonant frequency of the bird body. Move it down to 8 hz (I think that's correct for humans) and there will suddenly be a mysterious plague in Iran and North Korea.
  • Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Contrails?
  • greenbowlball, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://www.gotuit.com/gtv/index.html?c=news&p=84970&s=1479845

    Wow I thought this was a joke...
  • truck87bp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3With no birds around won't you get a lot of bugs .......like Locus.....
    • Insignian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yeah but Locus don't carp on your car
    • dknighton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6First of all, it's LOCUST, not locus. Second, LOCUSTS are big bugs, but not near big enough to drop a "carp" on my car. A carp is a pretty freakin' big fish.
    • Insignian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sorry my spelling still sucks even though version 2.0 came out I met crap
  • picciano, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2America Under Attack by Odors, Dead Birds, Bombs & Chemical Clouds

    (Sure, it's satire. But, hmmmm...)

    http://www.wonkette.com/politics/florida/america-under-attack-by-odors-dead-birds-bombs--chemical-clouds-227095.php
  • picciano, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Salty Water Cause Of Deaths
    A combination of thirsty birds and salty water likely resulted in the deaths of about 1,000 snow and blue geese at Lake Nicholson.
    Personnel from the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department reported the bird deaths on the lake about 15 miles northwest of Watertown in late November of 2006. Biochemical analysis on the brain tissue of some of the dead birds, while not conclusive, did reveal a high enough sodium concentration to suspect that salt toxicity led to their deaths.

    http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1971&dept_id=214822&newsid=17692629&PAG=461&rfi=9
  • BigKitty, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Also see: http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1820773.htm
  • CrashKC, on 08/25/2008, -0/+2So long, and thanks for all the fish.

    Er, worms.
  • scififan9009, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2DIGG THIS RELATED STORY:
    http://digg.com/world_news/4_000_Chickens_Die_in_France

    This happened last December, and seems much more important now in light of the events in Austin and Australia.
  • quakerorts, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Canary in a coal mine?
    • cesclaveria, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2seeing it from that angle it is damn scary
    • kitykity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thank you... that's what I was thinking... also as a Police fan of the song with the same name. ;)
  • nervoussubject, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0*tirade of curses*
  • quentinp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Oh crap I think this is my fault, I was using Cerebro to find every bird in Esperance, but I was thinking really hard!
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