Blackbirds fall dead from the sky in Arkansas again

Washington: Hundreds of blackbirds fell dead from the sky at a small town in the US state of Arkansas for the second New Year's Eve in a row, a media report said.

Television station 'KATV' showed a radar image of a large mass over Beebe in Arkansas just a few hours before midnight on Saturday. Quoting animal control worker Hearst Taylor, it said that the reason for the bird deaths is not known yet.

In 2010, during the same time, about 4,000 black birds fell from the sky all over the city. Official say blunt force trauma to the birds caused them to fall from the sky and many say fireworks could be the reason they died.

But, it wasn't immediately clear if year-end celebrations are again to blame. However, Beebe police imposed an impromptu fireworks ban on the night, the TV channel said.

Scientists have said the loud cracks and booms from celebratory fireworks sent the birds crashing into buildings, cars, and each other before falling dead to the ground on December 31, 2010.

The blackbird die-off flung the state into the national headlines and drew conspiracy theorists and filmmakers to the region.