'Thousands' of birds fall from sky across America

'Thousands' of birds fall from sky across America

An "unprecedented" number of migratory birds have been found dead across several states in western America.

Videos shared on social media captured the vast number of birds lying dead on the ground in New Mexico and the neighbouring states.

Twitter user, @austieJFish, shared a clip on Monday and said: "I just recorded this up in Velarde, N.M. I've never seen anything like it.

"I'm told of other dead migratory birds found in Hernandez, Ojo Sarco and El Valle de Arroyo Seco."

Some mentioned a tweet saying "hundreds of thousands, if not millions" of migratory birds have dropped dead out of sky.


The unexplained bird death has triggered wildlife experts to look into the possible causes.


Professor Martha Desmond, who studies bird at New Mexico State University's Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology, has said "we're losing probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of migratory birds".

She told local news channel KRQE that insect-eating birds seem to be the most affected species in the incident.

Warblers, swallows and bluebirds are the three commonly found species among the dead birds.

She said: "A lot of these species, they're already in trouble and they're experiencing declines.

"And then to have this type of event occur on top of it, it's devastating."


A team of experts are working to figure out the cause and they believe the early cold snap played a big role in the mass deaths.

Prof Desmond added: "It could be that the weather moved it and pushed birds out early in Colorado where it just snowed like crazy.

Some of them might not have been ready to migrate and so they died in place."

She also mentioned that the ravaging wildfires in the western states of Oregon and California could have changed the birds' migratory routes.

The experts urged the public to send them pictures of dead birds so they can get a fuller picture of what is happening in the southwest region.