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Originally Posted by Nat
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Wow.
I don't live in Arkansas, but I do work for a natural resources management agency that is in touch with wildlife officials there regarding this recent incident. The red-winged blackbird is notorious for having poor night vision. There were reports of fireworks in the area. Wildlife biologists surmise the birds were flushed from a roost by the sound of the fireworks. In flight, they were probably confused by both the sight and sound of the fireworks. This caused them to fly lower than normal, thus hitting trees, buildings and other structures. The necropsy results on the birds show they died from blunt force trauma, similar to striking something at a high speed. Their toxicology reports don't show anything toxic or unusual.
Birds and fish die off in large groups all the time for a variety of reasons that have to do with a sudden, significant change in their environment (air or water temperature change is a huge stress factor for fish) or from something contaminating their environment. Most wildlife is highly adaptable to environmental change, though that is going to be put to the extreme test for some species as we watch climate change progress.
Why are there so many reports of this lately? That is a uniquely human phenomena involving awareness. Once we are all aware of something significant, we become hyper-aware for a period of time and take notice of things we normally wouldn't. That and until the tragic incident in Arizona, it was a relatively slow news period (around the major holidays in most countries) and things that normally wouldn't make the news made the news.
Jake