In Beebe, Arkansas (pop. 4,930) people reported thousands of dead Redwing Blackbirds on the ground in the community between New Year’s Eve 2010 and January 1, 2011.
Biologists have speculated causes including weather phenomena (lightning and/or hail, both of which happened in the region) and stress from New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Early tests performed on some of the dead birds have indicated they died of internal injuries from blunt force trauma.
Redwing Blackbirds may winter as far north as Pennsylvania and British Columbia, but northern populations are generally migratory and move south to Mexico and the southern United States. Migration begins in September or October, but occasionally as early as August. In western and middle America, populations are generally non-migratory.
The Red-winged Blackbird inhabits open grassy areas. It generally prefers wetlands, and inhabits both freshwater and saltwater marshes, particularly if Typha (cattail) is present. Redwing Blackbirds are also found in dry upland areas, where they inhabits meadows, prairies, and old fields.
Redwing Blackbirds eat seeds and insects. The birds eat seeds from weeds and waste grain such as corn and rice, but about a quarter of the Redwing Blackbird’s diet consists of insects and other small animals, especially during breeding season. Redwing Blackbirds prefer insects, such as dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies, moths, and flies, but also consume snails, frogs, eggs, carrion, worms, spiders, mollusks. The Red-winged Blackbird forages for insects by picking them from plants, or by catching them in flight. In season, Redwing Blackbirds eat blueberries, blackberries, and other fruit.
A day before the dead birds started falling, 100,000 drum fish were found dead floating in the Arkansas River. The cause of death of the fish is still being investigated, but was likely caused by a combination of factors including a population boom over the summer, a deadly pathogen and a harsh winter cold snap.
And more Redwing Blackbirds dead in Louisiana …
Blackbirds are having a hard time staying alive in the Southeastern U.S. Just a few days after 3,000 blackbirds fell from the sky in Arkansas, about 500 birds dropped to their death in Louisiana, littering a stretch of highway near Baton Rouge.
And more dead fish in of the coast of southern Brazil …
A survey conducted by the Federation of Fishermen’s Colony of Paraná, Paranaguá on the coast of the state, indicates that at least 100 tons of fish (sardine, croaker and catfish) have turned up dead since last Thursday, December 30, 2010 off the coast of Parana.