Last week, a security camera in Mexico captured bizarre and disturbing images that have since gone viral. In the latest incidence of mass bird extinction, a big flock of yellow-throated blackbirds was captured crashing to the earth in Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, in western Chihuahua.
While many people appear to heal rapidly, others do not appear to be so fortunate. People have questioned whether or not the video is genuine. You can view the incident below, but be aware that it contains stuff that some people could find upsetting.
The clip was shot on a security camera on February 7 and was broadcast by local media outlets before Snopes, a fact-checking website, determined that it was real. More film was subsequently shared showed a man strolling through a field of dead birds, which local media site El Heraldo de Chihuahua described as “hundreds.” They were believed to be migrating south from Canada.
While it’s natural that some may dismiss the clip as a hoax, big flocks of birds dropping from the sky are not uncommon, albeit unusual to behold. What causes this to happen? The verdict is still out, but the most likely explanation is that the flock was reacting to a predator. Larger birds of prey hunt on smaller birds like blackbirds, and the sight of such a predator will send the flock into a frenzy. The entire gang dashes for the ground and the unlucky handful on the bottom will collide against the ground, likely instantly killing them.
“This appears to be a raptor, such as a peregrine or a hawk, following a flock of murmurating starlings, and they have crashed as the flock has been forced low,” environmentalist Dr. Richard Broughton told the Guardian. “At first, they act like a wave, as if they’re being flushed from above,” says the author.
Hundreds of yellow-headed blackbirds have been seen falling from the sky in the northern Mexican city of Cuauhtémoc, some of them dying in inexplicable circumstances. The reason for death is unknown, however, experts believe the flock was most likely “flushed” from above by a predatory bird flying down to take the prey. A flock of migratory birds descends on dwellings like a cloud of black smoke, according to security camera footage. Although the majority of the birds are able to fly away, the following film shows carcasses of the unique black and yellow birds spread over the city.
