Wildlife experts are trying to determine what caused more than 1000 birds to die and fall from the sky over the town of Beebe in Arkansas.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said it began receiving reports about the dead birds at about 11.30pm on Friday.
The birds fell over a one-mile area, and an aerial survey indicated that no other dead birds were found outside that area. Ornithologist Karen Rowe said the the birds showed physical trauma, and she speculated that "the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail". The dead birds have been sent for testing. The commission said that New Year's Eve fireworks celebrations could have startled the birds from their roost and caused them to die from stress. The dead birds have been sent for testing.
The new year is off to a bizarre beginning in Arkansas as 100,000 drum fish washed up along the Arkansas River.
Scientists say disease is likely to blame in the deaths of the fish, but a little more than 100 miles away in Beebe,thousands of birds started falling from the sky just before the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.
"I thought it was out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie," said one resident. "I thought the mayor was messing with me when he called me. He got me up at 4 o'clock in the morning, saying we had birds falling out of the sky," said another.
The Arkansas game and fish commission says the phenomenon is not as unusual as it might seem. The likely culprit is a lightning strike, high-altitude hail or even fireworks.
Investigators said there is no connection between the dead fish and the dead birds.
This is a video of dead birds fall from the sky in Arkansas
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