Esperance, Western Australia - Approximately five thousand birds of all kinds have fallen from the skies recently. This tragedy, which sort of reminds me of that scene in the movie, The Core, was said to be caused by toxins according to authorities. Esperance has always been known for its bird life, due to its lakes, offshore islands, and national parks. But now, it seems that its bird population has been wiped out.

According to the Department of Environment and Conservation, they received the first report of Esperance bird deaths last December 7. Since then, other Esperance towns have reported similar cases. Some of the casualties include yellow-throated miners, wattle birds, new holland honey eaters, and some seagulls and pigeons.

Autopsies on five birds were conducted and Acting Chief veterinary officer Fiona Sunderman says that the deaths "doesn't appear to be an infectious cause. Certainly, one thing that is being considered is a toxin". Sunderman added that there were reports that some birds were seen convulsing as they died. Autopsies and investigations are also hard to conduct since the dead birds had very little in their stomachs which could mean that food had been limited or that the birds were so unwell they couldn't eat.

As to where the deadly toxins came from, authorities have ruled out lead and arsenic poisoning, as well as the possibility of the toxin being introduced through insects. The people at DEC are asking the public to help out in the investigation by bringing in affected birds, in the hope that one of them has enough stomach contents that could identify the toxin. It is still not known whether this was caused by a natural phenomenon or if this was the fault of man.

Esperance was already declared as a natural disaster zone.