Natural Mysteries

[atlantalad]

A bit of light hearted relief from potential football signings.

I've come across a site that lists 8 Natural mysteries that cannot be explained. https://www.treehugger.com/natural-myst ... ed-4869303 Some of those listed are just weird.

It got me thinking of more mysteries in nature. For example, there are approximately 300 billion birds on our planet. These creatures out number humans by nearly 40 :1. They are all around us and in the Uk the Avian Population Estimates Panel (APEP) suggest that there are 83 million pairs of native breeding birds ( so 160 million). That is still approximately 2 birds to every human in the UK. The average lifespan of common UK birds is 3 years - much less than us humans. UK annual human mortality is approximately 600k. Given these facts why is it that when you walk down the streets, over hills, through woods you don't see dead birds just drop out of the sky and litter the place?

On a similar theme - when digging in the garden why do you never come across dead worms?

[KLClaret]

Once had a very dead starling fall out of the sky in front of me while walking the dog. Frightened the bloody life out of me

[Burnley1989]

I was driving in Scotland a few weeks back and on one 10 mile stretch I seemed to see about 20 dead black crows next to the road, it was bizarre

[Bosscat]

I was driving in Scotland a few weeks back and on one 10 mile stretch I seemed to see about 20 dead black crows next to the road, it was bizarre

They will have died of thirst looking for a Crow Bar

[clive40golf]

They will have died of thirst looking for a Crow Bar

made me laugh did that. Cheers buddy

[Bosscat]

I was driving in Scotland a few weeks back and on one 10 mile stretch I seemed to see about 20 dead black crows next to the road, it was bizarre

Corvid 20 perhaps

[Walkerpool]

Sean Dyche getting a new 4 year contract absolutely baffling.

[clive40golf]

Corvid 20 perhaps

Not as good as the first one.
I bet it’s murder

[clive40golf]

I was driving in Scotland a few weeks back and on one 10 mile stretch I seemed to see about 20 dead black crows next to the road, it was bizarre

Were they were stuck together?
we’re they Vel-Crow
Sorry

[Volvoclaret]

I was driving in Scotland a few weeks back and on one 10 mile stretch I seemed to see about 20 dead black crows next to the road, it was bizarre

You were on the Crow Road.

[claret59]

" Not a bird falls rom the sky but your Father in Heaven knows it." JC

[dsr]

A bit of light hearted relief from potential football signings.

I've come across a site that lists 8 Natural mysteries that cannot be explained. https://www.treehugger.com/natural-myst ... ed-4869303 Some of those listed are just weird.

It got me thinking of more mysteries in nature. For example, there are approximately 300 billion birds on our planet. These creatures out number humans by nearly 40 :1. They are all around us and in the Uk the Avian Population Estimates Panel (APEP) suggest that there are 83 million pairs of native breeding birds ( so 160 million). That is still approximately 2 birds to every human in the UK. The average lifespan of common UK birds is 3 years - much less than us humans. UK annual human mortality is approximately 600k. Given these facts why is it that when you walk down the streets, over hills, through woods you don't see dead birds just drop out of the sky and litter the place?

On a similar theme - when digging in the garden why do you never come across dead worms?

It's worse than you think. 83 million breeding pairs means that (including the baby birds) about a billion birds take at least one breath each year, and (given a steady state population) 166m are left at the end of the year. About 800-900 million dead birds.

Apparently the recycling of bird bodies is pretty efficient. For example, if a blue tit family dies in a nesting box (or nest, presumably) there is a specific type of beetle that moves in and lays its eggs, which hatch and eat and recycle the dead birds, so within a few weeks nothing is left but a fertile bit of mulch. Yukky story but clean ending.

[morpheus2]

A bit of light hearted relief from potential football signings.

I've come across a site that lists 8 Natural mysteries that cannot be explained. https://www.treehugger.com/natural-myst ... ed-4869303 Some of those listed are just weird.

It got me thinking of more mysteries in nature. For example, there are approximately 300 billion birds on our planet. These creatures out number humans by nearly 40 :1. They are all around us and in the Uk the Avian Population Estimates Panel (APEP) suggest that there are 83 million pairs of native breeding birds ( so 160 million). That is still approximately 2 birds to every human in the UK. The average lifespan of common UK birds is 3 years - much less than us humans. UK annual human mortality is approximately 600k. Given these facts why is it that when you walk down the streets, over hills, through woods you don't see dead birds just drop out of the sky and litter the place?

On a similar theme - when digging in the garden why do you never come across dead worms?

To be fair we are probably just self aware sims - bit players in a walk-on part on some kid's Civilisation style game.
Simulations don't normally bother with irrelevant things like dead bodies littering everywhere (unless that is the theme such as Zombie Apocalypse).

[7decades]

A bit of light hearted relief from potential football signings.

I've come across a site that lists 8 Natural mysteries that cannot be explained. https://www.treehugger.com/natural-myst ... ed-4869303 Some of those listed are just weird.

It got me thinking of more mysteries in nature. For example, there are approximately 300 billion birds on our planet. These creatures out number humans by nearly 40 :1. They are all around us and in the Uk the Avian Population Estimates Panel (APEP) suggest that there are 83 million pairs of native breeding birds ( so 160 million). That is still approximately 2 birds to every human in the UK. The average lifespan of common UK birds is 3 years - much less than us humans. UK annual human mortality is approximately 600k. Given these facts why is it that when you walk down the streets, over hills, through woods you don't see dead birds just drop out of the sky and litter the place?

On a similar theme - when digging in the garden why do you never come across dead worms?

Because like song writers when they die they decompose

[atlantalad]

Apparently the recycling of bird bodies is pretty efficient. For example, if a blue tit family dies in a nesting box (or nest, presumably) there is a specific type of beetle that moves in and lays its eggs, which hatch and eat and recycle the dead birds, so within a few weeks nothing is left but a fertile bit of mulch. Yukky story but clean ending.

Agree, a great many birds will die in their nests as chicks and even elder birds as old age and these will remain unseen and eventually consumed in the normal food chain. But there is still no explanation as to why some birds just don't die while flying and fall to the ground. Do bird suffer heart attacks? Do they possess a sense that they are about to die and go and hide in the undergrowth? Quick estimate, if there are even 100 million birds in the UK then on average nearly 300,000 pass away each day. Can honestly say I have never seen a bird just fall out of the sky dead.

[Zlatan]

Can honestly say I have never seen a bird just fall out of the sky dead.

I have, albeit after hitting a window at speed