Scientists and vets around the world are investigating the mass deaths of fish in Arkansas, Sweden, Louisiana and Maryland. Theories include fireworks, apocalyptic plagues, lightning, illness and cold temperatures.
Wild Birds Affected by Trauma in Winter
The Game and Fish Commission reported that the birds that fell out of the air in Arkansas died from trauma. The birds may have flown in panic trying to escape the lights and noise of fireworks. In the darkness they would have taken flight, departing from their scheduled time to roost and, not able to see well, they would have crashed into roofs, cars, and homes. Other birds may have died of shock and freezing temperatures and fallen from the sky.
In Sweden, autopsies performed on birds showed that hard blows to the birds caused massive internal bleeding. No disease or illness was found in any of the birds examined. Swedish veterinarians determined that the primary cause was most likely fireworks.
Birds that are hit with fireworks suffer burns and damage to their eyes, dying or becoming traumatized. The noises, which impact sensitive ears, and light display can spook birds causing mass hysteria and causing them to leave the roost.
Bird Survival in Winter and Adaptations
The time of year was a particularly cool winter month. Birds expend almost all of their valuable energy to survive the night in these conditions. The energy they gain from food during the day provides them with the body strength and physiology to survive at night. A huge amount of energy is expended in flight. Bird naturalists with bird feeders realize the life and death struggle birds face in the winter time trying to survive the cold temperatures.
Wild birds do not store a layer of fat as wild animals and mammals do. Once on a roost, they puff up their feathers for insulation and settle in for the cold night. Birds lose the majority of their body heat through their bills and eyes which they tuck snugly into their feathers at night. The metabolism of the wild bird will also slow down on the roost enabling it to further conserve energy. This conservation of body heat with no energy expenditure required for movement enables the birds to stay warm and survive cold winter nights.
During the winter months, naturalists stock their birdfeeders with suet, high protein and fatty foods to help small birds survive harsh winter nights. The oils provide the birds with added energy for their flights to obtain food in the winter.
Firework Guidelines
The panic, anxiety and wild flight at night to escape the noise and lights of the fireworks would drain the energy reserves of many birds at a time when roosting adaptations would be conserving energy.
Guidelines of the National Campaign for Fireworks Safety stipulate that firework display events be set up away from zoos, nature reserves, known roosting sites and sensitive wild life areas.
For more information Could the Magnetic Field Reversal Cause Masses of Animal Deaths?
Sources:
"50 birds found dead in Sweden; fireworks set nearby". Associated Press. Northwest Arkansas
Newspapers, LLC.. January 6, 2011.
"Bird mass death in Sweden caused by external blows". TNT Magazine. TNT Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
Dawson, William R.; Bech, Claus. "Theme: Morphology And Physiology Symposium: Control mechanisms for cold acclimatization in birds". Journal of Ornithology (SpringerLink Biomedical and Life Sciences) Volume 135, Number 3, 428-431,doi:10.1007/BF01639988.
"Dead bird riddle shifts to Sweden". ABC News. January 6, 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
Fink, George (2000), Title Encyclopedia of stress, Academic Press, p. 403, ISBN 0122267354, 9780122267352,
"Fireworks and Birds". The RSPB Advice. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. June 28, 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
"Fireworks ‘sent birds into frenzy’". London Glossy. January 4, 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
HammersonTitle, Geoffrey A. (2004), Connecticut wildlife: biodiversity, natural history, and conservation (illustrated ed.), UPNE, pp. 372, ISBN 1584653698, 9781584653691,
Nuss, Jennie (2010-01-04). "Fireworks may have caused birds to fall from the sky". Associated Press. The Star. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
