It's tough to be a bird.....

ProMED has posted its findings about the Beebe, Arkansas bird deaths.  Blunt-force trauma, most likely caused when the birds were startled from their roost by fireworks New Year's Eve night, killed them.  I found some interesting statistics from the brief: "For the blackbird species alone, there have been 16 incidents in which 1000 or more birds have died in single events over the past 5
years" said Scott Wright, Chief of Investigations at the center the birds were sent to. "The lab analyzes 300 to 500 large die-off events each year. The deaths involve all wildlife. Deaths in 2010 were as varied
as the demise of 4500 bats from a fungal infection known as white-nose syndrome in Bucks County, PA to the deaths of 150 raccoons, striped skunks, coyotes and red foxes in Los Angeles County."