Sweden - Dead birds now found

[makoto]

Swedish birds 'scared to death': veterinarian

A county veterinarian has speculated that the birds that fell from the sky in central Sweden on Tuesday may have been frightened by fireworks, then run over by a car after landing on the road in the dark.

Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, residents found 50 to 100 jackdaws on a street in Falköping southeast of Skövde. The incident echoed a number of unexplained incidents earlier this week across the southern US.

County veterinarian Robert ter Horst believes that the birds may have been literally scared to death by fireworks set off on Tuesday night.

"We have received information from local residents last night. Our main theory is that the birds were scared away because of the fireworks and landed on the road, but couldn't fly away from the stress and were hit by a car," he explained to The Local on Wednesday.

He added that they likely had difficulty orienting themselves in the dark and although they have received one report involving a car collision with the birds, ter Horst believes they may have been hit by more.

"We will continue to look at whether there are other theories, but then we have to do an autopsy on the birds. The birds just now are in a car on the way to a laboratory in Uppsala. We don't know exactly what happened yet, but we will continue the investigation," he added.

ter Horst noted that he has also received some reports about pigeons, but the incident has happened too quickly to assume that it is related to the untimely demise of the jackdaws.

The site where the birds were found has now been blocked for a veterinary inspection of the birds. Emergency services had cordoned off the area earlier on Wednesday.

According to Sveriges Radio Skaraborg, these are between 50 and 100 dead birds.

Anders Wirdheim of the Swedish Ornithological Society (Sveriges ornitologiska förening, SOF) believes the jackdaws likely were frightened in the middle of the night, then flew around in the dark and collided with various objects.

"Jackdaws spend the night in trees in large flocks. If they are frightened, hundreds of birds could take flight at once," he told TT.

Wirdheim noted that the affected bird species in the US are also those who spend the night in large flocks. He added that the birds' situation may have aggravated because they are weakened.

"This winter has been unusually tough and jackdaws may be in poor condition. That makes it easier for them to fly into different objects. There is very little food in the wild compared with previous years and I see dying birds every day," he said.

Olov Andersson, the director of communications at the National Veterinary Institute (Statens veterinärmedicinska anstalt, SVA) in Uppsala, said the samples will arrive in several hours by delivery service depending on the weather.

He added that he hopes the animals are not crushed by car wheels or injured by cats and dogs. The animal carcasses will be examined anatomically. Bacterial and viral samples will be taken, as well as tests for avian flu.

"We may have results late on Friday or early next week," he said...

the local http://www.thelocal.se/31262/20110105/ more

"Arkansas, also some in Louisiana & Kentucky" its only 3 places
Plz change forum'title or poste Tags
where is just forum??

[Tonka]

Re: Between 4,000 and 5,000 dead birds fall from sky in Arkansas, also some in Louisiana & Kentucky

Translation of the Swedish article Steffi posted above. Thank you Steffi.

http://svt.se/2.22620/1.2287664/doda_faglar_aven_i_falkoping

Swedish to English translation
Dead birds in Falkirk
Published January 5, 2011 - 07:32
Updated January 5 2011 - 13:06


It is not just in the U.S. as birds mysteriously dropped down dead from the sky. Shortly before midnight on Wednesday was found many dead birds on a street in Falkirk.

See more photos

Reader Images of the dead birds
Also read

Information from Falkirk Municipality
Hundreds of dead birds in Louisiana
U.S.: Dead birds fell from the sky
Hulaj Drilon were on their way home from work when he suddenly saw a lot of black spots on the road.

"We stopped and until I saw that there were birds, but remember that I read something about that something similar happened in the U.S.. It was very strange.

Total for a minimum of 60 birds - probably mainly jackdaws, but also a few crows. Most were dead when emergency services arrived on the scene. During the night the birds were moved to the side of the road, and an area of approximately 500 square was sealed off.

Be analyzed
Five birds were taken for analysis, and will be analyzed at the National Veterinary Institute in Uppsala. There, the carcasses will be examined anatomically and both bacteriological and virological samples, as samples for avian flu.

-Maybe we have a performance late Friday or early next week, "said Olof Andersson, of SVA.

Meanwhile, emergency services picked up some sixty birds by hand. A few of them were still alive.

-Approximately 60 birds are cared for and they save us now if you need more evidence and to know how to destroy them.

The birds kept for the time in garbage bags outside the fire station in Falkirk.

Probably frightened
What lies behind this remains unclear. But according to emergency services, there are reports that fireworks were fired in the area, something that may have frightened and stressed birds.

-The idea was that it was a very strange event at all, "said input conductor Christian Carlsson.

L?nsveterin?r Robert ter Horst would not speculate on what may have caused the bird death.

"We must work quietly and methodically," he says.

According to Anders Wirdheim the Swedish Ornithological Society (SOF) has jackdaws probably have been frightened in the middle of the night and then flown around in the dark and collided with various objects.

-Jackdaws sleep in trees in large flocks. Will they be frightened hundreds of birds take wing at once, "he says.

Anders Wirdheim out that it is not impossible that the situation could be exacerbated by the fact that the birds are weakened.

"This winter has been unusually tough and jackdaws may have been in poor condition. That makes it easier to fly into different objects. It's **** little food in the wild compared to previous years and I see myself dying birds every day, "he says.

Great interest
During the day the incident has aroused great interest, both from locals, Swedish media and international media.

The blockade is now claimed. While there is a slight possibility a few birds remained, hidden under the snow

[alert]

Re: Sweden - Dead birds now found

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/f?p=2400:1001:7632186131301932::NO::F2400_P1001_BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,86554

Archive Number 20110107.0089
Published Date 07-JAN-2011
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed die-off, avian - Sweden: jackdaws

Undiagnosed die-off, avian - Sweden: jackdaws
**********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

In this report:
[1], [2] Falkoping, Sweden

******
[1] Falkoping, Sweden
Date: Wed 5 Jan 2011
Source: The Local [edited]
<http://www.thelocal.se/31262/20110105/>


A county veterinarian has speculated that the birds that fell from
the sky in central Sweden on Tuesday [4 Jan 2011] may have been
frightened by fireworks, then run over by a car after landing on the
road in the dark. Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, residents found
50 to 100 jackdaws on a street in Falkoping southeast of Skovde. The
incident echoed a number of unexplained incidents earlier this week
across the southern US.

"We have received information from local residents last night. Our
main theory is that the birds were scared away because of the
fireworks and landed on the road, but couldn't fly away from the
stress and were hit by a car," he explained to The Local on Wednesday
[5 Jan 2011]. He added that they likely had difficulty orienting
themselves in the dark and although they have received one report
involving a vehicular collision with the birds, ter Horst believes
they may have been hit by more.

The site where the birds were found has now been blocked for a
veterinary inspection of the birds. Emergency services had cordoned
off the area earlier on Wednesday [5 Jan 2011] .

Anders Wirdheim of the Swedish Ornithological Society (Sveriges
ornitologiska forening, SOF) believes the jackdaws likely were
frightened in the middle of the night, then flew around in the dark
and collided with various objects. "Jackdaws spend the night in trees
in large flocks. If they are frightened, hundreds of birds could take
flight at once," he told TT.

Wirdheim noted that the affected bird species in the [recent mass
bird die-off in Arkansas] US are also those who spend the night in
large flocks. He added that the birds' situation may have aggravated
because they are weakened.

"This winter has been unusually tough and jackdaws may be in poor
condition. That makes it easier for them to fly into different
objects. There is very little food in the wild compared with previous
years and I see dying birds every day," he said.

[Byline: Vivian Tse]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

******
[2] Falkoping, Sweden
Date: Thu 6 Jan 2011
Source: The Local [edited]
<http://www.thelocal.se/31278/20110106/>


The cause of death of the jackdaws found dead on the streets of
Falkoping, in central Sweden, was external force, not infection or
disease, showed the autopsy completed on Wednesday [5 Jan 2011]. 5 of
the dead birds were autopsied by the National Veterinary Institute,
(Statens veterinarmedicinska anstalt, SVA) and results showed that
the birds had died of acute blunt force.

According to Marianne Elvander, zoologist at SVA, the jackdaws were
killed by severe internal bleeding. None of the birds showed sign of
infection or illness.

"Our assessment is that they weren't carrying any contagious disease,
but figuring out exactly what did kill them, other than being some
sort of external force, is rather outside our area," said Olov
Andersson, SVA's information officer, to TT news agency.

"What comes to mind is that they may have flown up, and been hit, or
something of the sort," he speculated, a theory defended by most experts.

The birds may have been frightened by something in the middle of the
night, flown about blindly, and died in collisions with different
objects in the dark.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[Jackdaws (Corvus monedul) are dark plumage passerine birds in the
same genus as crows and ravens. They live in large flocks near urban
areas, coming to roost together in trees at night.

Both this Swedish mass bird die-off and the recent incident in
Arkansas over the New Years holiday has been proven to be caused from
trauma. Both incidents show similar patterns in that it happened at
night during extreme weather conditions in birds that roost in big
flocks. When startled, the birds fly off blindly and hit other
objects and crash to the ground. There are possibly more incidents
like this which are unrelated, occurring locally around the world but
are under reported. The international news coverage has raised the
public's awareness, and so more incidents are likely to be reported.

[Steffi]

Re: Sweden - Dead birds now found

A trucker has come forward saying he ran into a flock of birds over there (possible disorientated). The birds were all found beside one road.