Some alarming news surfaced in Canada last week, when more than 50 black birds suddenly dropped dead out of the sky over Winnipeg, Manitoba, on August 7th, according to the CBC. The birds, which were later confirmed to be grackles, reportedly began flocking together by the thousands over cars and buildings in the city's north end. Frightened residents reported seeing the birds acting "dizzy" before abruptly plummeting out of the sky, as the CBC reported. At least 11 birds were found on the ground alive and taken in by the Winnipeg Humane Society, but they too couldn't stand or fly and were later euthanized.
For now, the mass grackle deaths remain a mystery. As a Manitoba provincial spokesperson explained in a statement to The Verge:
Preliminary test results have eliminated West Nile virus, avian influenza or Newcastle disease as the cause of death for a number of grackles in Winnipeg last week. Testing is ongoing, and Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship will provide updated information as it is received.
Mass bird deaths, while decidedly not common, have occurred in other parts of the world in recent years, drawing alarm from locals and conspiracy forums online. An estimated 5,000 birds of varying species, including grackles, plummeted to their deaths over Beebe, Arkansas in the US on New Year's Eve 2011. While the cause of death was officially ruled blunt force trauma, wildlife investigators later speculated that fireworks in the sky may have forced the birds to fly lower than normal, causing them to crash into objects. When 300 birds were found dead later that month near Yankton, South Dakota, the likeliest cause was reported to be a bird-killing poison used by the US Department of Agriculture specifically to try and stop birds from defecating in livestock feedlots. It's too soon to say whether any similar instances played a role in the death of the grackles over Manitoba, but we'll update once we hear back from the Manitoba government.
Comments
This is a case for the X-files. Call in Mulder and Scully.
By Ebony & Ivory on 08.12.13 6:39pm
Ha, I just read the story and told my wife there was a real-life Fringe event.
By Shabs42 on 08.12.13 7:15pm
Remember that movie “The Happening”…? Well, pun fully intended… it’s happening.
By Plazmic Flame on 08.12.13 8:36pm
It’s more the case of birds having seen the stupidity, that is mankind, and simply saying
“Fuck this, I don’t wanna live in this shithole anymore”… …
By Kangal on 08.13.13 8:23am
Seriously, this is another example of how little we know about ANYTHING. I really believe the universe is way more mysterious than we think and has far more bizarre dynamics than we can think of.
By sometimeswhy on 08.12.13 10:33pm
Well, 96% of matter and energy in the universe is unaccounted for.
By mnemonija on 08.12.13 10:42pm
Perhaps, but at least we can quantify that. Than again if it’s not accounted for how do we know its 96%?
By Schnydz on 08.13.13 12:46pm
Because we can see the effects they have on the visible part of the universe, and can quantify it. Ex., we can calculate dark matter as the total gravitational affect seen in galaxies – visible matter. I’m a little less read up on how one calculates Dark Energy, though.
By SRPuffinstuff on 08.13.13 1:16pm
Basically, without ‘something’ (like Dark Energy), the gravitational forces in the Universe should have caused the expansion of the universe at least slow. It currently appears to be speeding up. There has to be something powering that expansion, so there must be this ‘something’ we call Dark Energy.
We can calculate the rate we believe the universe should be expanding at the moment. The difference between expected and observed expansion allows you to calculate the amount of missing energy required to power that expansion.
By Slimjim on 08.14.13 10:45am
Modern television has lead me to believe that nothing happens in Canada, though.
By mikemcg on 08.13.13 10:51am
If I could I would prohibit fireworks world-wide. No, no sarcasm.
By Lina Sandtner on 08.12.13 6:40pm
Jeez, why not just outlaw fun? Yes, a little bit of sarcasm.
By Shabs42 on 08.12.13 7:17pm
By drybones5 on 08.12.13 8:24pm
By thenewnoisethriller on 08.12.13 8:25pm
OK then, captain No-Fun
By Adam.Plante on 08.12.13 9:59pm
Remind me never ever vote for you. No, no sarcasm.
By sunfly on 08.12.13 10:17pm
flying around the verge 404 background i see.
By Killing_TIme on 08.12.13 6:50pm
This should be the top recommended comment of this thread. Just delete a couple letters from the title in your URL and compare, it’s eerie. Can’t believe you thought of it though.
By Shabs42 on 08.12.13 9:36pm
Winnipeg is in the news !! this’ll make the news.
By djowett on 08.12.13 6:50pm
This happened in this – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FlashForward
Man that was a bad TV show.
By Soong on 08.12.13 6:51pm
also in The Core, a bad, bad, bad movie
By ellishamburger on 08.12.13 6:57pm
Ahh, I see you two are using “bad” as a cool slang word for awesome. Actually I thought Flash Forward had a great premise and first 2-3 episodes. But then it got really dumb really quick.
By Shabs42 on 08.12.13 7:16pm
Also in Under the Dome
By tubamaneric on 08.12.13 7:50pm
Thank you! I couldn’t remember which show it was I saw that in! I didn’t actually think it was that bad of a show, but apparently everyone else did.
By darrylk1 on 08.12.13 11:36pm
I was going to mention Flash Forward but someone already did!
By pekosROB on 08.13.13 11:32am