Horror As Hundreds Of Birds Suddenly Fall From Sky In 'Apocalyptic' Footage

Eerie footage caught by CCTV cameras and onlookers shows what happened when hundreds of birds mysteriously fell from the sky in Mexico.

The bizarre event took place on February 7 in the area of Alvaro Obregon in Cuauhtémoc, a city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, where footage caught by a camera overlooking a street shows the moment a black cloud of birds suddenly descends over the quiet road.

Though hundreds of birds manage to fly away again, dozens appear to be dead and strewn across the street.

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Members of the public filmed themselves walking through the streets and piling up the bodies of the birds, which were found to be yellow-headed blackbirds. The creatures typically travel south to Mexico from Canada in the winter, but locals were naturally baffled when they found so many littering the street.

Footage of the incident prompted a lot of speculation regarding the cause of the mass death, from rumours of 5G technology interference to electrocution from power lines, while some questioned whether it was a sign of the 'apocalypse'.

Yellow-headed blackbirds travel south to Mexico from Canada in the winter. (CEN)

Ricardo Abel Soto Cruz, of the Faculty of Zootechnics and Ecology at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, told the news site Meteored that the birds may have inhaled toxic fumes from a nearby building and become disorientated, while Dr Richard Broughton, an ecologist with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, is almost certain the scene was caused by a predatory bird.

Although a predator cannot be seen in the footage, one could have forced the birds to swirl tightly off-camera before driving them towards the ground. The force of birds at plummeting from higher in the air could have then caused those lower down to crash into the buildings or ground, which would explain why not all of the creatures were able to fly away again.

Officials overlooking dead birds on street (CEN)

Speaking to The Guardian, Broughton said: 'This looks like a raptor like a peregrine or hawk has been chasing a flock, like they do with murmurating starlings, and they have crashed as the flock was forced low. You can see that they act like a wave at the beginning, as if they are being flushed from above.'

Broughton's opinion was shared by Dr Alexander Lees, a senior lecturer in conservation biology at Manchester Metropolitan University, who commented: 'For my part and from one video and no toxicology, I’d still say the most probable cause is the flock murmurating to avoid a predatory raptor and hitting the ground.'

Local authorities were informed about the situation, after which the creatures were removed from the streets. They are now undergoing testing in a bid to establish their exact cause of death.

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Topics: World News, Animals, Viral

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.