No hidden signs in the `Aflockalypse' ; Renee Loth

IS IT the revenge of Alfred Hitchcock, or a wrathful God? Or isit just a natural phenomenon magnified by a hyperventilatingInternet?

The first media fad of 2011 - thousands of birds falling deadfrom the sky with no apparent explanation - is starting to yield tomore sober analysis. But "the Aflockalypse," as it's been called,obscures real threats to birdlife that are, sadly, no mystery atall. And it reveals a disconnection from the natural world thatmakes it easy for people to lose all sense of proportion.

It began on New Year's Day, with the report of more than 3,000red-winged blackbirds falling from the sky in tiny Beebe, Ark.Authorities said they thought fireworks could have panicked thebirds into a confused crash-dive, but that was no consolation when450 dead birds were found in Louisiana three days later. Thefollowing day hundreds of dead grackles and starlings appeared inwestern Kentucky.

By the end of the week, the Aflockalypse had gone viral withreports of 750 turtle doves raining from the sky in Italy and 50jackdaws found dead on a street in Sweden. Surely it was the end ofdays? A blogger at the site "End Times" thought so. "If we think ofthe [Bible] verses that speak of `all of creation groaning undersin' and move forward from there, we can see that the bird deathsare indeed a sign," she wrote.

Not according to the US Geological Survey, which says bird die-offs are actually quite common. An average of 167 mass events arereported to the Geological Survey every year, and that's almostcertainly an undercount.

"A lot of people are oblivious to nature," said Wayne Petersen,director of the Important Bird Areas program at the MassachusettsAudubon Society. "They are led by events that are blown out of allscale, and they miss the forest for the trees."

Red-winged blackbirds - among the most abundant of species andgregarious in winter, according to Petersen - roost by the hundredsof thousands every year in Beebe. As many as 20 billion birds couldbe in the United States during the fall migration. So a few thousandbirds dying at once is not as extraordinary as it seems.

No question the sight of all those dead birds is creepy, and foranyone who loves the distinctive song of the red-winged, ineffablysad. But like many "natural" disasters, the bird kills making theheadlines are not primarily acts of God, but of man.

"I was struck by all this media attention to a few thousand birdswhen human activity kills probably two billion birds a year," saidMike Parr, vice president of the American Bird Conservancy inWashington.

At the top of the list of threats to birds is the destruction andfragmentation of habitat through development. There's a cascadingeffect: wild areas are cleared for development, and suburban sprawlfollows. From that comes all the ills of civilization: increasedused of pesticides, more cell phone towers, garbage that drawsraccoons and other predators, cars, tall buildings, plate glasswindows, even pet cats. The conservancy estimates that cats -domesticated and feral - hunt and kill 530 million birds a year.

Not to spoil the Armageddon party, but just this week the USGSNational Wildlife Health Center confirmed that fireworks indeedcaused the Arkansas blackbirds to flush from their roosts, and thenslam into houses, towers, and other obstacles. In Louisiana, a fast-moving cold front startled birds from their nests, where theycollided with nearby power lines. Almost all the birds were foundwithin 10 feet of the wires. It's nicer to think of occult phenomenathan to confront mankind's complicity in the death of so manycreatures. The problem can feel overwhelming. But there arepractical ways to improve the odds. Boston is among a handful ofcities with a "lights out" program that dims skyscrapers during peakmigration periods. The use of bird-friendly windows earns newbuildings a point on their LEED certification.

Homeowners, meanwhile, can plant native shrubs, stock feeders,and study up on these charming animals. Taking care of the world welive in is the best protection against the media's next wildlifefrenzy.

Renee Loth's column appears regularly in the Globe.

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