Birds Drop Dead in Sweden, Kentucky

Birds are continuing to drop from the sky in a mounting, now global, mystery. Up to 100 jackdaws fell dead in a small town in Sweden. Investigators have roped off the area in an effort to determine what killed the birds, who showed signs of serious trauma, officials said. "We have determined that the birds died from severe internal bleeding caused by external blows," said a spokesman. One animal rescue worker called the die-off a "historic event." Hundreds of birds, meanwhile, have also been found dead in Kentucky and Louisiana less than a week after thousands of blackbirds fell from the sky in Arkansas, reports the New York Daily News.

US investigators speculate fireworks may have triggered the bird deaths. The affected birds—largely blackbirds, starlings and jackdaws—all sleep together in large flocks. It's possible they were startled by something and flew into one another, an expert told the Christian Science Monitor. But there were no fireworks or storms in the Swedish town, notes the BBC. Bizarre die-offs are also affecting sea life. Some 40,000 dead crabs have washed ashore in the UK, 2 million fish have died in Chesapeake Bay and 100,000 dead drum fish washed ashore in Arkansas all within a week. Officials speculate the marine die-off could be caused by unusually low temperatures. Click for more on the animal deaths.
(More animal deaths in Arkansas stories.)