Hundreds Of Sparrows Fall Dead From Sky And Pile Up In Cemetery, Disturbing Phenomena Caught On Cam

A rare and disturbing phenomenon stunned residents in the holiday hotspot of Bali as they witnessed hundreds of sparrows falling dead out of the sky and piling up in a cemetery.

Video footage taken by one of the residents shows the swarm of birds lying lifelessly on the ground.

Local residents who witnessed the incident said the black-colored birds, reportedly sparrows, fell en-masse from the sky and landed in a cemetery.

The extremely alarming occurrence reportedly unraveled on Thursday, Sept. 9, in Gianyar, a regency on the Indonesian island.

Reacting to the episode, Bali authorities initially released a statement saying the incident was probably caused naturally, suggesting extreme weather conditions and even acid rain was to blame.

Experts say the birds hurtled from the sky on Thursday morning after it had been raining heavily, according to reports.

A spokesperson for Indonesia’s Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) said it was the first time such an incident was reported from the region.

He said: "If we’re talking about the condition and natural events, it can be said that there was a lot of acid during the rain."

"It’s possible that that caused the birds to fall."

Meanwhile, Made Santiarka, a spokesperson for the animal health department in Gianyar Regency, also suggested the birds were probably killed by extreme weather.

However, after a follow-up investigation on Friday, Sept. 10, the BKSDA revealed that the birds died of poisoning from pesticides typically used in the area.

"Our suspicion is that the community nearby used non-natural pesticides, which poisoned them," said the BKSDA's chief in a later update, The Sun reports.

The chief said the sparrows must have been looking for food in large groups – possibly in the thousands – around the locality and had begun to forage on newly grown poisonous rice crops that had been sprayed with the pesticides.

"That's our current guess, and we've asked our partners in the field to educate the people on the use of pesticides in an effort to be mindful of other wild creatures around the area – not only the birds, but other animals as well," he added.

A similar sighting was reported in Wales earlier this week. Residents in the town of Llanrwst spotted a number of dead pigeons lying on the street, sparking fear of avian flu.

But the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed they have received no alerts for the flu spreading wild birds in Wales.

A spokesman said: "Where dead or sick wild birds are reported to the Defra helpline, we will investigate as necessary as part of our disease surveillance work."

"Results for dead wild birds that have tested positive for avian influenza are routinely published."