The End Times

Revelation's "rivers of blood" have not arrived yet, but migratory birds in the

hundreds of thousands are dropping dead out of the sky. [photo credit: K Aigner] Scientists and bird lovers are reporting a mass die-off of birds across the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Although scientists have yet to assess causation, you do not have to be a rocket scientist or even an ornithologist to suggest that the toxic air from massive wildfires across the Pacific coast is partly responsible. A recent cold weather event in the Rockies could have also claimed birds weakened by their strenuous migration south for the winter. An ornithologist from New Mexico State University who is documenting the mass fatalities estimates that up to a million birds of various species have perished. Death reports started coming in August, but nothing amiss was suspected, Mirgration is difficult and stresses birds to their maximum capacities. Reports continued into September along with disoriented behavior, vagrant birds and atypical flight patterns. Scientists were alerted to a possible catastrophe. NMSU mobilized resources and started investigating. So far, the scientists have collected 300 bird carcasses. 

Since the die off started before the cold spell and is continuing after, another causative factor must be involved. Wildfires are known to force early migration, as well as poison the atmosphere and obscure visibility. Jon Hayes of Audubon Southwest says the die-off and wildfires are symptoms of global climate change. “All these things are going to cause long-term declines, long-term losses [of birds], and they’re gonna be punctuated by big scary events like this. It’s part of this bigger problem.” A 2019 study by Cornell University found that North American has lost some 50 billion birds.  The study concluded that 389 bird species, some of which have been killed in the current disaster, are threatened with extinction as weather patterns change and become more extreme due to planetary heating.

Researchers are planning to send some of the bird carcasses they have collected to US Fish & Wildlife's forensic laboratory in Ashland, OR.  The necropsy reports will take a week or more to provide possible answers to the factors causing their deaths. Researchers are asking the public to be on the lookout for dead or disoriented migratory birds and report what they find to state wildlife departments or report on the iNaturalist website.