A large number of dead birds were found in the city of Falkoping, Sweden, Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, according to a press release on the website of the Swedish National Veterinary Institute.
Autopsies were peformed on five of the birds. The institute said they died due to "sudden, hard external blows," according to the press release. They had no signs of infection or other illnesses, and there were no external signs indicating what killed them.
"We have determined that the birds have died from severe internal bleedings caused by external blows," said the Institute's Marianne Elvander.
A similar unusual incident occured in Arkansas on New Year's Eve. Thousands of red-winged blackbirds and starlings were found dead over a square-mile area in the town of Beebe.
In a separate incident, some 500 red-winged blackbirds, starlings and sparrows were found dead Monday morning in the southern Louisiana community of Labarre.
This case is interesting in that it happened on the evening of January 4th, four days *after* New Year's celebrations, where in Arkansas, firework displays were cast as a likely culprit. Made sense to me.
Indeed, a quick search reveals that fireworks are again being blamed in this Swedish incident. . .
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The Swedish article talks about the fireworks as a defacto reality, but it wasn't made clear that there really were any fireworks or if they just assumed into existence by investigators. Who sets off fireworks on Jan 4th? I couldn't find any mention of celebrations on that day. In fact, the BBC noted that there were NOT any fireworks reported at the time.
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So now this is getting curious! I wonder if "Fireworks" are set to become the new "Candle Balloons" of 2011.