US: Dead birds fall from sky

Officials are investigating why more than 1,000 birds - most of them dead - fell out of the sky in the US state of Arkansan on new year's eve.

The Arkansas Fish and Game Commission said it began receiving reports of the falling birds at about 23:30.

By midnight, more than 1,000 red-winged blackbirds had fallen in one area of the city of Beebe.

The birds could have been hot by lightning or high-altitude hail, said AFGC ornithologist Karen Rowe.

About 65 dead birds have been sent off for scientific analysis to determine the cause of death.

It does not appear as though the birds were poisoned, Ms Rowe said.

Severe weather over Arkansas could be the caused of mystery deaths "Since it only involved a flock of blackbirds and only involved them falling out of the sky, it is unlikely they were poisoned, but a necropsy is the only way to determine if the birds died from trauma or toxin" she said.

Tornadoes swept through Arkansas and neighboring states on 31 December, killing 7 people.

However, the AFGC did not say whether the blackbirds deaths could also be attribute to the storms.

City authorities have hired a specialist waste-disposal firm to collect the dead birds from garden and rooftops, and dispose of them.