Starlings commit suicide

Last Sunday a huge group of starling collectively committed suicide in Stuttgart, Germany.

People who were passing by saw hundreds of starlings fly through the air right before they suddenly nose-dived to the ground from a hight of aprox. 100 feet and smashed themselves to death.
Ornithologist Guenther Schleussner of the Wilhelmina Zoological and Botanical Gardens in Stuttgart compared the incident with a scene of the classic horrorfilm 'The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock.
"I've never seen anything like this in my whole life!", he said. "This kind of behaviour is highly unusual for birds. They only could have done something like this by experiencing something abnormal. I'm speechless!"

Within seconds the crowded street 'the Steinhalden Strasse' was covered with dead birds. Inhabitants who were taking a walk stated that they heard a loud 'splat' when the swarm hit the ground.

Here's the article;
www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de...

Could it have something to do with the shifting of earth's poles causing the magnetic sheath to decrease or even to collapse like in the scifi-movie 'The Core'??

news.bbc.co.uk...

Please, your opinion on this one!

[Edited on 5-11-2003 by MarkosOrrealus]

Its just like the bird scene in the movie "The Core"
could it be that the battering were taking trom the sun
has effected the the earths magnetic field enough to disorient the birds

Birds or in this case starlings are not the only animals who have suffered from disorientation.
Many unexplained strandings and deaths of marine mammals could be caused by soundwaves from underwater military sonar equipment, zoologists believe. Deep-diving whales are mostly affected.

Sonar 'may cause whale deaths'

But what about HAARP. I'm very much alarmed by chapter 30 of the Omega-file written by Branton. The military insists that HAARP is a strictly scientific program to study the aurora borealis or Northern Lights. According to Branton HAARP is a device intended to seriously tweak the ionosphere for purposes that are less than benign.
HAARP built by ARCO Power Technologies in Alaska. During 1996, a planned $75 million increase to the already multi megabuck project will increase the output of the system to over 1.7 gigawatts, making HAARP the most powerful emitter in the world. Several smaller sites exist around the world, most notably in Russia. Though these installations cannot match the ionosphere heating capabilities of HAARP, some experts in the field who wish not to be quoted suggest that some aberrant weather conditions MAY HAVE been caused by their operation. The weapon-development whiz kids have been interested in this sort of gizmo for quite some time. Just what in hell does the military want with the world's largest weenie roaster? Here are some possible applications:

EARTH-PENETRATING TOPOGRAPHY: Sort of a CAT scan for the planet. By heating the ionosphere to create a resonant mirror, electronic-beam steering directs an energy stream to specific coordinates on the planet. This energy penetrates the ground to a depth of a kilometer or more, and the signal return is received by satellite or aircraft. After computer processing, A RELATIVELY CLEAR PICTURE OF WHAT IS UNDERGROUND emerges. Damn handy when trying to figure out where those wily North Koreans hide their nukes -- or where YOU keep your stash.

HARD-KILL WEAPON SYSTEM: The output of HAARP would have to be boosted a thousand-fold, but if that is accomplished, a shell of high-speed electrons can be constructed that encompasses the earth. Any ballistic missile or warhead passing through the shell would explode.

SOFT-KILL WEAPON SYSTEM: By directing enormous amounts of radio-frequency energy at a specific area, HAARP could overload electrical power distribution grids, fry sensitive microelectronics, detonate weapons that use electronic fuses, scramble missile guidance systems and probably upset brain chemistry.

WEATHER MODIFICATION: Heating the upper atmosphere over specific areas could change weather patterns, creating torrential floods, destroying an enemy's infrastructure or denying an enemy's harvest by drought... Weather as a weapon.

IDENTIFICATION OF SATELLITES: By illuminating orbiting spacecraft with HAARP, the constituent materials and the mission of a satellite can be assessed.

COMMUNICATIONS: Possible uses include satellite jamming, satellite communications with submarines and detection of stealth aircraft.

eaglenet.enochgraphics.com...

Actually, I thought this was a known behavioral phenomenon of starlings (and some other birds)...??? It happens due to the "school" mentality, like you see in fish. Whatever inner mechanism they use for navigation...it get's screwed up in the "lead bird" (the one the others are in tune with), and then since the key bird does it, the rest follow instinctively....and go splat...

Well, this ornothologist (expensive word for birdexpert) had never heard or seen a phenomenon like this in his entire life. You might wanna consider the knowledge of this man credible enough to presume that this phenomenon is highly unusual and maybe even unique.

According to him (and as we all know) birds are able to respond or react extremely fast. They can anticepate rapidly and are able to easily avoid any obstacle that they encounter on their way.
The reason for synchronized flightmanoeuvres of birds is often the presence of birds of prey or other predators. Those predators are irritated by these synchronized flightmanoeuvres and won't easily attack a swarm.

I still think it's very weird!!

err..my German is a little rusty..is there an English translation for the article?

Well let me tell you something; I'm dutch and as you probably know Holland and Germany are neighbours.
Because of the holocaust the germans aren't exactely our best friends. To be honest... We hate their guts. They always invade our country in the summer. Especially our beaches. They have a weird habit to dig big familysized wholes in the sand. We're always happy to see them return to 'der Heimat'. I believe they haven't changed much since the war. You can still feel this 'Deutschland uber alles' and thing. That's why a soccermatch between Holland and Germany is always a battle.

So my knowledge of the German language is a little poor, yet good enough to read and understand.

Germans Like their landscape though

LOL...all right I'll use the text you provided me...

I'd say this definately qualifies as strange. Although it's not uncommon for other types of animals to commit suicide if there's an environmental stressor present (naturally occuring).

Some suscpect that the wave of whale beachings in the last five years is a direct result of warming ocean waters and reorganization of the thermo-haline circulation pattern.

Could be a local stressor that caused the starlings to behave like this..

Uhmm, to anwer your question Kukla... The answer is no. Germans (and the French) like their language and they often refuse/forget to place an english translation of content on websites.

Originally posted by Olafski
Well, this ornothologist (expensive word for birdexpert) had never heard or seen a phenomenon like this in his entire life. You might wanna consider the knowledge of this man credible enough to presume that this phenomenon is highly unusual and maybe even unique.

I would suggest your so called "expert" needs to read up on his subject. His credibility IS questionable.
There are plenty of instances of this phenomena so it's not "highly unusual" or "even unique".

www.ananova.com...

www.100megsfree4.com...

www.science-frontiers.com...


The feathery fools have been splatting themselves for a century or so.

Leveller...thanks for the links!

Learn something new everday..

Yes, it could be local stressor.

Schleussner vermutet als Ursache des Tierdramas eine Windboe � oder schlicht �einen saubl�den Unfall�.

Schleussner presumes that a sudden gust of wind or squall caused the drama - or perhaps some silly accident.

Saubl�den language

Originally posted by Olafski
They always invade our country in the summer. Especially our beaches. They have a weird habit to dig big familysized wholes in the sand.

What?! I couldn't stop laughing after reading this!

Thanx for the links Leveller! However these links are all related to the same phenomenon which occurs year after year at the small village of Jatinga in the northeastern state of Assam, India from August to October, when the night is moonless and foggy, accompanied by wind and drizzle.
This ornothologist probably hasn't done his homework properly or just maybe he's not using the power of the internet because he's old and grey and has a fear of modern technology (like my folks for instance).

Since the mysterious phenomenon dates back to 1905 I presume that HAARP probably hasn't got anything to do with it. Phfeeeeew I'm reliefed!

What?!

I couldn't stop laughing after reading this!

They also lay in these wholes. It protects them from the sun and the heath. We dutchmen don't like those wholes, because it's a dangerous habit. Plenty of accidents have happened in the past.

The USAF Thunderbirds did this once too.