Mass Suicide of Birds?

Remember the thousands of blackbirds dropping dead over the skies of Arkansas? The one that officials are referring to as being caused by a "stress event" (well, duh!)

Well, it’s happening again. This time in Point Coupee Parish, Louisiana, 300 miles south of the original death spot in Beebe, Arkansas:

The birds were found Monday along Louisiana Highway 1, about 300 miles south of Beebe, Ark., where more than 3,000 blackbirds fell from the sky three days earlier. Authorities say examinations showed those birds suffered internal injuries that formed deadly blood clots. [...]

"They collided or were hit by something that caused hemorrhages or bleeding, internal bleeding or bruising," Karen Rowe, an ornithologist at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, told CBS News.

Some speculated Monday that a bout of bad weather was to blame. Others said one confused bird could have led the group in a fatal plunge. A few spooked schoolkids even guessed that the birds had committed mass suicide.

"There was probably some physical reason, but I doubt anyone will ever know what it was," said Thurman Booth, the state’s wildlife services director.

Obviously it’s a new military death ray! Link – via Boing Boing