Video shared on social media shows the birds lying dead on the ground in New Mexico and the neighboring States.
A user on Twitter 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,” he added.
Some mentioned a tweet saying “hundreds of thousands, if not millions” of migratory birds have dropped dead out of the sky.
Wildlife experts were triggered to look into the possible causes of the unexplained birds’ death. Martha Desmond, a professor who studies birds at New Mexico State University’s Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Ecology, has said “we are losing probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of migratory birds,”. She also claims 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 are experiencing declines and then to have this type of event occur on top of it, it’s devastating,” she added.
“Some of them might not have been ready to go migrate and so they die in place,” said Professor Martha Desmond.
The ravaging wildfires in the western states of Oregon and California could have changed the birds’ migratory routes. Experts also asked the public to send them pictures of dead birds so they can get a closer look at what is actually happening in the southwest region.
Source: Daily Star, Twitter