Dead Birds Falling From Sky Cover Arkansas Town

More than 3,000 dead birds fall from sky in Ark.

Jan 02 2011

BEEBE, Ark. — Wildlife officials are trying to determine what caused more than 3,000 blackbirds to die and fall from the sky over an Arkansas town. Others say the people of Beebe are involved in Black Magic and there have been rumors of vampires in the town.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Saturday that it began receiving reports about the dead birds about 11:30 p.m. the previous night. The birds fell over a 1-mile area of Beebe, and an aerial survey indicated that no other dead birds were found outside of that area. This bolstered the claims of those alleging it was Black Magic, according to a local Shaman.

Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said the birds showed physical trauma, and she speculated that "the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail."
Or vampires according to the local loonies.

The commission said that New Year's Eve revelers shooting off fireworks in the area could have startled the birds from their roost and caused them to die from stress. This comment was immediately pooh poohed by fans of the musical group The Beatles, who cited evidence of Blackbirds Singing in the Dead of Night.

Robby King, a wildlife officer for the agency, collected about 65 dead birds, which will be sent for testing to the state Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wis.

Rowe said that similar events have occurred elsewhere and that test results "usually were inconclusive." She said she doubted the birds were poisoned. A local group of Wiccans agreed the birds were not poisoned and said it obviously was the work of vampires. "Whatever happened here, it wern't no natural thang," said a local redneck interviewed from the bed of his pick-up truck, where he resides.