[jolepp]

Birds fall dead in Arkansas town ? again - World - CBC News

[Ratmagiclady]

Hrm, I'll round up the usual suspects.

Might be that town should be thinking 'We seem to be a blackbird roost, let's find less-concussive celebrations. " Or maybe if they set off some airport 'bird cannons' *before* dark, it might let the birdies get away when they can see and all.

[reeftool]

Perhaps they realized they were in Arkansas and committed suicide.

[Parallax]

Let's start again without the political/baseless assumption posts.

[Ratmagiclady]

Let's start again without the political/baseless assumption posts.

I think that means they ought to a) Give the fireworks a rest a year or two, and b) Study how to not spook those blackbirds in the middle of the night. They really are pretty threatened. And the meadows wouldn't be the same without them.

When I said 'bird cannons' that wasn't a joke. They use them to dissuade birds from hanging around airports.

[Parallax]

I'll buy that.

[RioRico]

Perhaps they realized they were in Arkansas and committed suicide.

Let's start again without the political/baseless assumption posts.

I think it's more cultural/stereotypical than political. Maybe they all realized they were married to their cousins. Maybe they fell victim to a toxic release from a secret WalMart laboratory. Maybe they got into a bad batch of 'shine. Maybe they were in a cult. ?Quien sabe?

[reeftool]

The reason I question the fireworks theory is those same blackbirds are up here by the thousands in the summer. They nest in the marshes along the Hudson and the numerous lakes in the area. Every town has several fireworks displays throughout the summer months, and many of them directly over the water and the nesting grounds of blackbirds. So why do fireworks in Arkansas scare them to death, literally, and not in New York? Something else is a factor.

[jolepp]

...
When I said 'bird cannons' that wasn't a joke. They use them to dissuade birds from hanging around airports.

Propane-powered racket-makers like these?

[Parallax]

I think it's more cultural/stereotypical than political. Maybe they all realized they were married to their cousins. Maybe they fell victim to a toxic release from a secret WalMart laboratory. Maybe they got into a bad batch of 'shine. Maybe they were in a cult. ?Quien sabe?

You're right, and your post and the post you quoted are perfectly acceptable for GT. The one I deleted (by a different member) wasn't.

[Ratmagiclady]

The reason I question the fireworks theory is those same blackbirds are up here by the thousands in the summer. They nest in the marshes along the Hudson and the numerous lakes in the area. Every town has several fireworks displays throughout the summer months, and many of them directly over the water and the nesting grounds of blackbirds. So why do fireworks in Arkansas scare them to death, literally, and not in New York? Something else is a factor.

I'd presume that there is in fact some local variation: like a big migratory flock, some other vulnerability, or some other local conditions that make this happen in the same spot. Seems fairly likely the fireworks are the trigger, though, since it happens at the same time, repeatedly.

(And, yeah, Jolepp, that's the basic idea. According to the scientists, the birds would seem to be just battering themselves into things and each other in some kind of disoriented panic: why does it happen just there, who knows: could be some contaminant or other factor that makes them more susceptible there, or maybe if they're just stopping over there around this time of year, they have a big instinct to flock together, even if they can't see/navigate. Assuming they're right about the direct cause of death, well, it's a bunch of accidents, and maybe like for people, it tends to take multiple things going wrong at once for there to be an accident. )