A stunning new video shows hundreds of blackbirds falling from the sky in Chihuahua, Mexico, and experts are unsure as to why.
Footage captured by a security camera in a residential area shows the birds falling, with many of them dying after impact, USA Today reports.
CBS News cites that a local radio station believes that toxic smoke or the birds coming into contact with electrical wires could have been the cause of their fall. However, ecologist Richard Broughton told The Guardian that he believes the birds might have been trying to escape a larger predator.
“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,” Broughton told the outlet. “You can see that they act like a wave at the beginning, as if they are being flushed from above.”
The Yellow-headed Blackbird is commonly found around the Mississippi River and migrates to California, Texas, and Mexico during the winter.
While there is no definitive answer as to what happened, a similar incident happened recently, when 200 starlings in Pembrokeshire suddenly fell from the sky as well. According to a local resident, he said he heard an “electrical-type” bang, before all the birds dropped onto people’s cars.
