One of the bizarre wildlife stories of 2010 played out 30 minutes before the start of 2011 when more than 1,000 blackbirds fell from the sky, most of them dead, Friday night in the Arkansas town of Beebe.



A news release issued Saturday by the state's Game and Fish Commission states that the birds rained onto the city in a one-mile area. Wildlife officer Robby King was quoted as saying, "Shortly after I arrived there were birds still falling from the sky."





King picked up 65 birds for study. It remains unclear what caused the birds to fall as a group. Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the agency, said the birds "showed physical trauma" and the flock "could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail."



Another theory was that fireworks launched skyward by revelers might have stressed the birds. There was no initial sign that any of the birds had been poisoned.



-- Pete Thomas

Twitter: @Pete_Thomas