400 Turtledoves Die in Italy

The Birds Keep Falling! But What Does It All Mean?
The Huffington Post reported on this earlier today. UPDATE: Hundreds and possibly thousands of dead birds have reportedly fallen from the sky in Italy. UPDATE: Wildlife officials say that even more previously unreported dead birds were found in Kentucky last week. Millions of dead fish surfaced in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay in the U.S., Tuesday, while similar unexplained mass fish Deaths occurred across the world in Brazil and New Zealand. On Wednesday, 50 birds were found dead on a street in Sw...

At least nine incidents of mass animal deaths across the globe
Blue stain believed to be sign of poisoning or hypoxia - lack of oxygen that is precursor to altitude sickness Cold weather and overbreeding blamed for Deaths of two 2million fish in Chesapeake Bay Disease behind Deaths of 100,000 fish in Arkansas River At least nine incidents of mass animal Deaths across the globe Hundreds of confused birds plummeted to their Deaths in multiple locations in the U.S. Rapid movement of Magnetic North Pole towards Russia may have caused bird deaths Thousands of...

No 'aflockalypse'
Some commentators have dubbed it "the aflockalypse" - instances of mass bird Deaths that have perplexed observers over the past week. So why have birds quite literally been falling out the sky? It all started when residents of Beebe, in the US state of Arkansas, woke to find thousands of dead blackbirds strewn across roads on 1 January. Then, in Louisiana, about 500 birds - including starlings, cowbirds and redwing blackbirds - rained down from the skies. Only days later, news outlets...

Latest mass bird deaths: Thousands of turtle doves drop from the sky over Italy
It is raining this morning in the northern Italian town of Faenza, near Ravenna. In and of itself this would hardly be newsworthy. The fact, however, that it is turtle doves—not raindrops—falling from the sky is a cause for concern, especially in light of this report’s representing the latest in a series of bizarre animal Deaths worldwide. More than a thousand of the birds crashed down on the roofs of houses and cars. According to the UK newspaper the Mirror, today alone 300 co...

Mass animal deaths scrutinized as Google maps numerous incidents
Five thousand blackbirds in Arkansas. One hundred pelicans near Jacksonville, North Carolina. Three hundred doves in Italy. Seventy bats in Tucson, Arizona. Thousands of fish in Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brazil and the United States. Google is now mapping the incidents of mass animal Deaths around the world. Google Maps' distinctive blue balloons indicate where the Deaths took place. Click on a balloon, and Google will provide you with a link to a news report on the ...

Mystery of mass animal death epidemic deepens after 8,000 doves fall dead in Italy; Strange blue stain on beaks...
Thousands of dead turtle doves rained down on roofs and cars in an Italian town in the latest in a growing spate of mass animal Deaths across the globe. Residents in Faenza described the birds falling to the ground like 'little Christmas balls' with strange blue stains on their beaks. Initial tests on up to 8,000 of the doves indicated that the blue stain could have been caused by poisoning or hypoxia. A witness told www.examiner.com: 'We have no idea why this happened all of a sudden. Hypoxia, ...

More than 1,000 turtle doves fall from the sky in Italy in latest mass bird death case
After cavalcades of dead birds and fish from Arkansas and Texas to Sweden and New Zealand, tests are being carried out on the bodies of turtle doves in Italy after hundreds rained down near Ravenna....

Dead birds and fish could be linked to Magnetic North Pole
© Mnh.edu The Magnetic North Pole is moving rapidly toward Russia. In the wake of recent bird and fish kills around the world, scientists say the cause of the seemingly bizarre incidents could be linked to activity of the Magnetic North Pole. As of Friday, Jan. 7, millions of fish and crabs have washed-up in the United States, Brazil, England New Zealand. Thousands of dead birds have fallen out of the sky in Italy, Sweden and at least three states. Experts haven't pinpointed an exact ...

Police warn of spam email links to child pornography
ROME: Italian police have warned of a new system by which thousands of Internet users in countries around the world, including Australia, have received spam email for business offers that actually click through to Child Abuse material. ''The sites concerned didn't know what was going on. They were Small Business websites,'' said Elvira D'Amato, an official at the postal and communications police in Italy, which started the investigation into the spam. The inquiry is now being co-ordinated by Eur...

Thousands of dead doves rain down in Italy
Tests are being carried out on the bodies of turtle doves after hundreds rained down from the skies on an Italian town in the latest of a global phenomenon. For the past five days wildlife experts and officers from the forestry commission have picked up more than 1,000 turtle doves as well as other birds including pigeons near the town of Faenza in northern Italy. Yesterday alone 300 dead birds were r ADVERTISEMENT ecovered, all having a blue tinge to their beaks, which scientists say indicate...

Mass bird and fish deaths stoke curiosity
Five thousand dead blackbirds rained from the sky on the first day of the New Year in Arkansas. Then more dead birds fell in other states. Then huge fish kills were discovered in multiple US waterways. And suddenly it became a worldwide phenomenon, with reports of mass die-offs of birds and fish in Sweden, Britain, Japan, Thailand, Brazil and beyond. Doves, jellyfish, snapper, jackdaws... it seemed no species was immune. Conspiracy theorists, doomsdayers and religious Extremists warned that the ...

Arkansas bird deaths blamed on fireworks
"It's looking more and more like that," said Keith Stephens, spokesman for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. It appears unusually loud noises frightened the birds out of their nighttime roost, and they may have flown into trees, houses and other objects, the commission said in a statement. Blackbirds have poor night vision and typically do not fly at night. Meanwhile, wildlife officials reported other mass blackbird Deaths in Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky. While the Deaths have sparked...

Bird brains
Matt Drudge has ginned up a storyline: Thousands of birds suddenly fall out of the sky. Apocalypse? Global cooling? A rare disease? Normal. From the National Geographic: But the in-air bird Deaths aren’t due to some apocalyptic plague or insidious experiment — they happen all the time, scientists say. The recent buzz, it seems, was mainly hatched by media hype. At any given time there are “at least ten billion birds in North America… and there could be as much as 20 billion...

Officials: Lake Meredith fish kill blamed on algae, not connected to worldwide animal deaths
A mass fish kill that prompted Lubbock officials to add a chemical to city water was being blamed on a toxic algae bloom - and certainly not being connected to recent reports of mass animal Deaths around the country, officials said Thursday. Between 10,000 and 20,000 gizzard shad were found dead last week in Lake Meredith, prompting Lubbock officials to continue adding a chemical to Lubbock water to prevent a possible fishy odor from reaching Hub City faucets. The fish kill triggered state of...

"Fireworks" - Are You Kidding Me?
Since the highly published occurrence of 3,000 to 5,000 blackbirds falling to their death on January 1st 2011, more bird and fish mass Suicides have occurred. Just yesterday, a new report telling of millions of dead fish surfaced in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. On Tuesday, similar unexplained mass fish Deaths occurred across the world in Brazil and New Zealand. On Wednesday, 50 birds were found dead on a street in Sweden. The latest mass suicide is found in England where more than 40,000 Velve...

What's With The Dead Animals?
Birds dropping from the sky. Dead fish washing up on the shore. Marine die offs. It's pretty creepy if you ask me. And I am not buying "the Fireworks scared the birds" story. 40,000 crabs washed ashore in the UK.. ya think they got scared from fireworks? 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 se...

Dead bird reports spread to Italy
Thousands of dead birds have fallen from the sky, this time in Italy. The turtle doves found hanging dead in trees and laying on the ground have an unusual blue stain on their beaks, according to the Huffington Post. The deadly worldwide disturbance in the ecosystem began on New Year’s Even in Beebe, Arkansas, when some 5,000 blackbirds fell dead from the sky. Over the next few days, thousands of birds have been seen dead in different countries and continents, as if something set off an un...

Photo: Gone to the birds
A flock of black skimmers face into a cold blustery wind as they huddle together on Ben T. Davis Beach in Florida on a cold mid-December day. Photo: AP/Chris O'Meara Sadly, birds have been in the news a lot lately. Sudden bird die-offs in Arkansas, Louisiana and now Sweden have people unnerved and scrambling for explanations ranging from Alien Invasion, experiments by the U.S. Military, the BP Oil Spill, Fireworks or meteor showers. Add to the scenario massive fish die-offs in Maryland, Br...

Birds Dying In Italy: Thousands Of Turtle Doves Fall Dead From Sky
On Wednesday, GeaPress reported hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of dead and dying birds in Italy. Countless turtle doves were found scattered in the streets, in flower beds and hanging tragically from trees "like Christmas balls" in the town of Faenza. Many of the birds that fell dead from the sky were discovered with a mysterious blue stain in their beaks. In the past week, similar incidents of mass animal Deaths have been reported across the world. Thousands of dead birds fell from the sk...

Italian turtle doves found dead
Hundreds of dead turtle doves have been found in the parks and streets of the northern Italian town of Faenza. Italian scientists are investigating what might have caused the Deaths of the 400 birds, whose bodies appeared in the days after New Year. Their mysterious appearance follows separate cases of mass bird Deaths in Sweden and the US state of Arkansas. Experts said a variety of tests were being carried out but emphasised there was no cause for alarm. "We are carrying out the standard ...

7 days quiz
It's the Magazine's 7 days, 7 questions quiz - an opportunity to prove to yourself and others that you are a news oracle. Failing that, you can always claim to have had better things to do during the past week than swot up on current affairs. HMV announced it will close 60 stores this week after bad Christmas sales. It's famous for its dog and gramophone logo - what the name of the pooch? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is to be republished in the US with some words changed, including "injun"...

Defiant New Zealand newspaper shoots back at Gun Rights Examiner
In Rachel Stewart's Riding Shotgun column on December 29 she told of losing count of the number of times she had eaten a meal in a Texas diner "in the immediate company of a man, or men, with shooters on their hips in plain view"…Spurred on by an email posting by David Codrea, the emailers shot high - but usually low - at the integrity of Ms Stewart, questioned this newspaper's political standing and demanded apologies. Her time in diners were [sic] spent in the company of peop...

Mike's Blog Roundup
his vorpal sword: CNN, A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing: Governor Moonbeam? The Reaction: How long have Republicans been back in power? Comments are restricted to Registered Users only. Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously? Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously? Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkan...

Open Thread
Why does anyone take Newt Gingrich seriously? Rep. Steve King uses 'Babies Born in Dumpsters' to argue that Affordable Care Act Unconstitutional Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously? Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously? Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously? Rep. Lou...

The Jungle Twins
Thailand and surrounding countries such as Burma, Laos and Cambodia have been traditional elephant country.· Neighboring Laos is still called “The Land of a Million Elephants,” though that number is far fewer today.· Some years ago I was in an upstairs museum in Venice, Italy examining very old maps of Asia, and the area that today is known as Laos was marked by drawings of elephants.· In Thailand, elephant symbols, sculptures, paintings and T-shirts are prevalent....