Power line blamed for bird kill in Louisiana

[jpak]

http://rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/1120/31155036/La_has_mass_bird_kill_just_days_after_Ark

Louisiana's state wildlife veterinarian says at least some of an estimated 450 birds that died near Baton Rouge may have flown into a power line.

Jim LaCour said Tuesday the grackles, starlings, brown-headed cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds had broken beaks and backs. He says some live birds had broken wings but ran too fast to catch.

The bird deaths Monday came a few days after about 3,000 blackbirds fell from the sky in central Arkansas. Scientists there say celebratory fireworks on New Year's Eve likely sent the birds into such a tizzy that they crashed into homes, cars and each other before plummeting to their deaths.

<not much more>

[Parche]

1. that is SHOCKING news

:shrug::hi:

[notadmblnd]

2. Really? Are there any reports of this ever happening on the 4th of July?

loud noises scaring birds into such a frenzy that they lose it and fly into all sorts of objects.

[bananas]

3. Probably a power line from a nuclear power plant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Bend_Nuclear_Generating_Station

River Bend Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station on a 3,300-acre (13 km2) site in St. Francisville, Louisiana, approximately 30 miles (50 km) north of Baton Rouge.

:popcorn:

[Renew Deal]

4. Sounds a lot like this...

Blackbirds, specifically red-winged blackbirds, common grackles,
and brown-headed cowbirds, cause extensive damage to newly
planted rice and ripening rice. Blackbird damage to rice crops
has received much attention in States such as Louisiana, Texas,
California, Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri. Considerable public
interest now exists to find better management methods to reduce
damage caused by blackbirds.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=114906&mesg_id=114906

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Oh, man. Yeah, that reminds me of those sonic crowd control weapons the military has

been working on.

[wtbymark]

5. how were the birds grounded when they came into contact with the pwr line?

Otherwise they would be like the billions of other birds that sit on power lines all day. They have to ground themselves to complete the circut, like the occaisional cooked squirrel, they touch a wet pole or a ground bus while touching the live wire. So, I'm "supposed" to believe that 450 birds all accidently grounded themselves while sitting on a wire and then flew away to die some distance later. Oh, and electrocution causes smashed beaks. Uh huh.....

[Nihil]

10. They weren't electrocuted - they were injured/killed by the collision ...

... i.e., the collision between a flying moderately-fragile bird and a
stationary not-even-slightly-fragile power cable.

FWIW, I suspect that your post below is more accurate (cover-up of a
release of some toxic gas) as the OP article is deliberately vague
and weasel-worded:

>> Louisiana's state wildlife veterinarian says at least some of
>> an estimated 450 birds that died near Baton Rouge may have flown
>> into a power line.

It was a shrug accompanied by a verbose version of "I don't know".

[Javaman]

11. They all held hands with the bird on the ground...

:spray: :rofl:

[wtbymark]

6. IMO- there's been a massive release of something that they don't...

want us to know about.

[pacalo]

7. I agree.

[Javaman]

12. Remember the scene toward the end of "Close Encounters".

Where Richard Dreyfus puts on the gas mask at the evac depot because of a "gas leak"? But then realizes later on, that it was just a cover up to get everyone out of the region to as not to see the UFO's.

I'm not saying that's what is going on here, it just reminded me of that.

There was a story with in the last 2 years about a chemical plume that was accidentally released from a plant that killed some birds, but I can't seem to locate it on the google. But then again, there is always Union Carbide

[Tripod]

9. I find that hard to believe.

I expect there is another explanation to this.