Birds Felled by Flying Human Objects (Balls, Etc.)

[zygmunt_rocks_on]

I think this is a bit prosaic for the "It Happened to Me" thread, so I hope no-one minds me putting it here. And probably not even fortean to boot... but hopefully you'll find it entertaining


One beautifully sunny July evening some years ago, I was at my friends house celebrating his 21st birthday party.There were about 7 of us there. Wanting to preserve my friends parents decor, we went outside to open a bottle of champagne. The cork shot out into the air more or less vertically with a satisfying *pop*. Almost instantly, a small bird dropped out of the sky falling at my feet. It was a blue tit, lying on it's back with feet in the air. I picked it up and it was still warm, but either dead or unconscious. There were no trees around and we were a fair distance from the house. We could only suppose that we'd shot it out of the sky with the cork!

Anyway, we left the poor thing on a high(ish) wall. We checked an hour or so later (it was still light) and the bird had flown... or been eaten by a cat.:miaow:

 

[Anonymous]

Good shot, Ziggy! That'll teach the little so-and-so's to peck thru the top of the milk bottles to get the cream.

Seriously, I would say that this is somewhat Fortean. I have heard of a bird being struck and killed in flight by a golf ball, but it's rarer than rare. Sounds like a remarkable coincidence if it was indeed the cork.
If you want an illustration of this, when you're in a lonely place, try holding two stones in your hand, throwing one high in the air, and trying to hit it with the other one. It's very difficult even when you're trying.
Alternatively I guess the cork could be unconnected, and maybe it just died of guilt over the milk bottles thing :blissed:.

Big Bill Robinson

 

[DerekH16]

Isn't there a stuffed bird in the Long Room at Lord's, said feathered friend having been dispatched by a flying cricket ball? :splat:

 

[zygmunt_rocks_on]

I forgot to mention that at the time we pondered the possiblity of the Tit being dropped by some sort of bird of prey... we were in rural West Yorkshire at the time. There we no claw marks, or indeed marks of any sort on the bird though. I'm glad you think it's fortean though, Bill!

 

[Quetzelcoatl]

If you want an illustration of this, when you're in a lonely place, try holding two stones in your hand, throwing one high in the air, and trying to hit it with the other one. It's very difficult even when you're trying.

Zen and the art of archery. "To make to meet two arrows in the air" the point being, you cant shoot an arrow into the air, then shoot another to hit it square on in its downward trajectory. You can only do it by achieving the empty mind of the Zen master *spooky Zen type music*

Alternatively I guess the cork could be unconnected, and maybe it just died of guilt over the milk bottles thing :blissed:.

Big Bill Robinson

I believe it looked down and died of angst cos it hadnt been born part of the Champagne sipping Tyke Arts Glitterati. Reborn as Tracy Emmin probly.

 

[Yithian]

Easier than one may imagine it seems

Isn't there a stuffed bird in the Long Room at Lord's, said feathered friend having been dispatched by a flying cricket ball? :splat:

Yup, by Jehangir Khan in 1936 and he wasn't the last:

Tendulkar-hit pigeon safe and sound

Sunday, 30 June, 2002, 17:02 GMT 18:02 UK
An uneven contest

The English are famously more concerned about animal welfare than virtually anything else.
So after India's star batsman Sachin Tendulkar injured a pigeon with a cut stroke on Sunday, a collective anxiety gripped the big crowd at The Oval as they awaited further news of the bird's plight.

Finally, the BBC's Test Match Special commentary team were able to bring the news everyone wanted to hear - the bird was unharmed.

Past history shows that feathered creatures and sports do not seem to mix, with human beings invariably coming out on top.


The pigeon injured on Sunday at The Oval never knew that a few pieces of leather, stitched together to create a cricket ball, might hit it.

And nor would the softly-spoken and humble batting legend Tendulkar have had any idea that his skilful tinkering with the ball would land an innocent bird into a medical emergency.

The Sri Lankan fielders responded quickly to the medical emergency and their own star batsman, Mahela Jayawardene, acted as nurse, cradling the animal on its journey to the pavilion.

During cricket's 1999 World Cup two pigeons met their ends in the match between India and Australia - again at The Oval.

The first victim was shot down in midflight by a throw from Paul Reiffel, while the second failed to recover after Ajay Jadeja edged the ball to where it was pecking close to the bat.

New Zealand opener Matthew Horne nearly claimed a third victim in the same tournament when his full-blooded drive knocked out a pigeon.

But the Trent Bridge crowd erupted into applause as the bird recovered and flew away.

Birds have often fallen foul of cricketers. In 1936, during during India's tour of England, Indian medium pacer Jahangir Khan delivered a ball that struck a sparrow in its flight.

The sparrow died and Jahangir came to be known as 'cricket's sparrow killer'.

The stuffed carcass of the sparrow is on display at the Lord's Museum in London.

=======================

Old article from here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/funny_old_game/2076631.stm
See also: http://www.mcc.org.uk/history/museum.asp

 

[Anonymous]

We could only suppose that we'd shot it out of the sky with the cork!

Another possibility- the bird may have died of shock on hearing the sound of the cork popping.

I have been told in the past that birds are very susceptible to shock, and I've heard anecdotes of budgies dying of shock while having their claws clipped.

 

[Anonymous]

While accelerating hard on a Ducati 900ss I collided with a parakeet flying across the road, it hit me in the shoulder and killed the bird and left me with a bruise on my shoulder, I would have been doing about 80mph at the time.
Its all just strange synchronicity.
When its time to go its time to go. Ive seen death a dozen times but its not my time. Yet.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

There are also mass die offs of birds:

Mystery as dead birds rain down

Beijing, China

05 February 2004 11:38

More than 10 000 birds died mysteriously in eastern China's Jiangsu province, dropping like rain from the sky, state media reported on Thursday.

Farmers and other witnesses in Sangongdian village in Taizhou city saw flocks of bramble finch suddenly fall from the sky on Tuesday, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

Most of the birds were dead when they hit the ground and some were injured, it said. The birds look like sparrows and are small in size.

Officials from the local centre for disease prevention and control rushed to the scene. Samples from the birds were taken to a laboratory in nearby Nanjing city for testing to determine the cause of death.

Experts from the Jiangsu province agriculture department said that because the birds died while in flight, the cause of death may have been contamination in their food, water or environment.

They did not immediately say whether there was any connection with the spreading bird flu outbreak in Asia. China said on Thursday 56 417 birds in the country had been infected with bird flu and 49 236 of them had died.

China, the world's second-largest producer and fifth-largest exporter of chicken meat, has reported five confirmed cases and 18 suspected cases of the avian flu.

The flu has been reported in nine other Asian countries and blamed for 17 deaths, in Vietnam and Thailand. -- Sapa-AFP

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=30686

 

[hedgewizard1]

Naturally, I can't find the references now (I think they're lying next to the thunderbird picture), but over the years American baseball players have hit birds with balls.
No, wait, here's one from http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/bos/ballpark/facts.jsp

In 1945, a throw by Athletics outfielder Hal Peck hit a pigeon flying over Fenway Park. The ball then deflected to the A's second baseman, who tagged out Boston's Skeeter Newsome trying to stretch his hit into a double. The pigeon flew away, minus a few feathers but otherwise unharmed. Another pigeon was not so lucky in 1974. Willie Horton hit a foul ball into the air at Fenway Park, hitting a low-flying pigeon. The pigeon fell from the sky — dead — and landed in front of home plate.

Those are two from Boston. I know I saw footage from a game in the last 10-15 years of a dove getting killed with a ball.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Injury and death from flying golf balls further diminishes the odds of survival for a dwindling population of sandhill cranes in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia.

Sandhill crane hit by golf ball released back into the wild in Pitt Meadows

A sandhill crane that had been nursed back to health after suffering a broken leg was released back to the wild in Pitt Meadows on Saturday.

The bird, which has been named ‘Fraser,’ by its rescuers had been struck by an errant golf ball this summer, and was captured to give it a fighting chance at survival.

Its mate had also been hit, but was not as lucky.

Wildlife biologist Myles Lamont said a passionate team of veterinarians have spent the last several months donating their time, materials, and expertise to care for Fraser.

Dr. Adrian Walton from Dewdney Animal performed the original surgery after capture, Dr. Ken Macquisten aided in post operative care and subsequent treatment, and Elizabeth Melnick from Elizabeth’s Wildlife Center, has helped with rehab of these golf ball injured birds for the last several years. ...

“With less than approximately 12 breeding pairs left of the South Coastal sandhill cranes in the Fraser Valley, this population is facing severe threats from urban expansion, loss of wetland habitats to agricultural development, and increased threat of golf courses as they continue to be forced onto these sub-optimal habitat types and subject to injury,” Lamont said. ...

He pointed out less than 3 per cent of the birds that hatch actually make it to adulthood.

“It is not high enough to maintain the population, and we’ve lost ten birds in the last five years to golf ball strikes. The whole thing is a recipe for disaster because it can take five years for them to reach maturity,” he said.

“So the population will not be able to sustain itself with those kind of fatalities continuing.”

FULL STORY: https://www.surreynowleader.com/new...-released-back-into-the-wild-in-pitt-meadows/

 

[Xanatic*]

The model Fabio was once on a rollercoaster in Busch Garden when his beautiful face collided with a goose. I don't believe the goose survived.

 

[EnolaGaia]

The model Fabio was once on a rollercoaster in Busch Garden when his beautiful face collided with a goose. I don't believe the goose survived.

Yep ... It happened on March 30, 1999 ...

Fabio Hit By Flying Bird on Apollo's Chariot

Supermodel Fabio suffered a one-inch cut on his nose after a bird hit him while riding the new Apollo's Chariot roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Fabio was attending the park's media event to help promote the new roller coaster. Unfortunately for the park, the timing could not have been worse. ...

According to a witness, the bird hit Fabio during the plummet down the first drop of 210 feet at a speed of up to 73 mph. Fabio returned to the station with blood all around his nose.

As a result, Fabio was taken from the park to the Williamsburg Community Hospital where he was treated and released for a minor cut. ...

Fabio declined to talk after the incident and instead opted to return to Los Angeles missing the evening media event.

As for the bird, he did not fair as well. According to one park guest a dead goose could be seen floating in the river below the drop where Fabio was supposedly hit.

Despite the mishap, the roller coaster reopened after only a 15-minute downtime and park officials said the incident was an unpredictable freak accident that has never occurred before.

SOURCE: https://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/news/archives/april99/stories/040199_01.shtml

 

[RaM]

I was working under the bonnet of a car and as I turned round there at my feet
was a dead duck, wasn't there when I started and never heard a thing, the thing
I found a bit strange it was absolutely freezing cold.
Maybe had a hart attack wile flying high, not a mark on it but very cold to touch.

 

[Lord Lucan]

It happens more often than you may think in cricket. Just search YouTube and you may be surprised.

Here's one from 2015. Fortunately the victim, a seagull, survived to fly away and steal food another day.

 

[Krepostnoi]

While accelerating hard on a Ducati 900ss I collided with a parakeet flying across the road, it hit me in the shoulder and killed the bird and left me with a bruise on my shoulder, I would have been doing about 80mph at the time.
Its all just strange synchronicity.
When its time to go its time to go. Ive seen death a dozen times but its not my time. Yet.

One of the rough-arsed bikers I knew in Bradford once told me how he was riding his chop along Morecambe prom, perhaps not perfectly observing the speed limit, when he got a faceful of pigeon. He was wearing the obligatory piss-pot helmet, so no visor. The poor fowl's last act was to break his nose. He said the combination of blood, snot, feathers and giblets dripping off his face really made an impression on the family crossing at the lights.

 

[Lord Lucan]

Let us never forget the damage done by Fabio's nose (although not technically flying) in 1999:

 

[kamalktk]