Dead bird mystery deepens

The mystery of the 2,000 blackbirds that dropped out of the sky in an Arkansas town has deepened with the news that 100,000 fish have washed up in a nearby river.

Just before the inhabitants of Beebe in Arkansas rang in the New Year, some 2,000 blackbirds dropped out of the sky in a one mile radius of Windwood Drive in the town.

According to local news reports, locals are completely in the dark about what has caused the problem.

Dozens of US Environmental Services crews turned up and spent hours collecting the dead birds. However, they too seemed to be unable to explain the issue.

Local man Charles Boldrey said, “Nobody knows, I asked these guys who are out here picking them up and they don’t seem to know anything. Nobody seems to know anything. It just kind of freaked everybody out.”

As well as the 2,000 blackbirds, all of a single species, the body of a single dead duck was also discovered.

Officials say they will confirm their findings when they get the test results. In the meantime, they have listed possible causes as lightning, stress, high altitude hail and New Year’s Eve fireworks.

The eerie happening deepened when news surfaced that some 100,000 drum fish washed up on the banks of the Arkansas River, just miles from the site of the bird tragedy.

The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission reported a massive fish kill in Roseville which bizarrely, involved only a single species.

Fish kill video (2.15 in):