Photos, videos of dead birds in Ky. are unrelated to Ohio train derailment
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week
CLAIM: A photo shows birds that “dropped dead” in Kentucky following the Ohio train derailment, and a video shows birds in northern Indiana that also died from the hazardous chemicals released after the derailment.
THE FACTS: The photo, which shows several birds lying dead on a road, was taken in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2018 and published in an article by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The video misrepresents a clip of dead birds near New Carlisle, Indiana.
Social media posts sharing photos and videos of dead birds in states beyond Ohio are spreading with false claims that the deaths are related to the recent burning of toxic chemicals following the Ohio derailment.
A Facebook user shared the photo supposedly showing birds in Kentucky, falsely claiming the incident was related. A reverse image search shows that the photo was featured in an article published by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on April 9, 2018.
The photo’s caption states that several dead birds were found near an intersection in downtown Little Rock that month. A local ornithologist told the paper that the birds likely ate fermented berries, which can intoxicate them, causing them to fall and die.
Meanwhile, the widely shared video shows a flock of birds hanging side-by-side on a power line upside down, some with their beaks open. More birds can be seen lying on the ground. But the original video appeared on Facebook nearly two weeks before the derailment, making it impossible for the two incidents to be related.
Shelly Lister Struss, a resident of Buchanan, Michigan, posted the video on Jan. 22. She confirmed to the AP that she was the one who filmed it, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) outside of the center of New Carlisle, Indiana.
While the death of these birds was not due to the derailment, experts were uncertain of the precise cause.
Marty Benson, a spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, told the AP that although the DNR “has not been on the site of this incident,” it is possible the birds “suffered electrocution from a power surge on the line.”
Michael Bianski, a spokesperson for Indiana Michigan Power Co., said that a more plausible explanation is a phenomenon called conductor, or line, gallop — the sudden, rapid movement of power lines caused by wind gusts.
“This can kill birds perched on power lines as whiplash from the motion can break their necks,” he wrote in an email to the AP.
