Blowing-up birds are bewildering a Bay Area ‘burb.
Dozens of birds have met their sudden and violent demise in a California neighborhood in recent months, dropping out of the sky mid-flight and falling dead on city streets and in backyards.
Speculation is running rampant as to the cause of the mysterious deaths, from a serial bird killer on the loose to a rash of electrocutions caused by perching on power lines.
“So when they land and it happens, they just quickly explode and it’s really violent,” Richmond resident Maximillian Bolling told KGO-TV.
“It’s very traumatic,” he added.
A doorbell camera captured one of the unexplained fatalities. A loud popping sound can be heard moments before the bird fell to the ground dead, drawing shocked gasps from horrified passersby.
“It sounded like a firecracker, and a black bird — a starling — just plummeted to the ground,” witness Mark Hoehner told ABC News. “I’ve been under the birds when it happens, and I know where the sound is coming from. It’s coming from up on the pole.”
Neighbors have pointed the finger at a stretch of power line they think may be the culprit, prompting Pacific Gas & Electric to investigate, enlisting the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) to perform necropsies on several of the expired birds.
“They have shared that the birds show no evidence of electrocution, and that their deaths were caused by trauma, potentially from a pellet or BB gun, or slingshot,” the utility said in a statement.
But the explanation stuck firmly in locals’ craw.
“I feel like a BB gun doesn’t make a firecracker noise,” resident Heather Jones told the outlet. “This sounds exactly like a firecracker.”
Other neighbors, like Jan Solomon, also questioned the quasi-official explanation, saying she “can’t fathom” that someone could be so consistently accurate with a pellet gun.
Wildlife officials said in a statement that the investigation remains underway.
“CDFW also received photos of other dead birds found at the location that showed injuries consistent with trauma. The exact cause of the trauma to all of these birds could not be determined.”
