Residents of California town baffled by mysterious exploding birds

David Matthews, New York Daily News on May 13, 2025

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The residents of a California town are raising the alarm after dozens of birds appear to have exploded without explanation.

The phenomena appears to be limited to a single neighborhood in Richmond, about 10 miles north of Oakland.

Neighbors claim that more than 50 birds have suddenly fallen dead to the ground after sitting on a stretch of power lines over the last few months.

“When they land and it happens, they just quickly explode and it’s really violent,” resident Maximillian Bolling told local ABC affiliate KGO.

In doorbell video of one such incident, a loud pop similar to a BB gun or firecracker can be heard before a bird falls lifeless to the ground.

The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said it was aware of the incidents and asked local energy supplier Pacific Gas & Electric Company to inspect the power lines.

The company said its equipment was safe and was not causing the birds to be electrocuted. Necropsies performed by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife found signs of trauma in some of the birds.

“They have shared that the birds show no evidence of electrocution, and that their deaths were caused by trauma, potentially from a pellet or BB gun or a slingshot,” the company said in a statement. “PG&E does not believe that there was an issue with our electrical equipment and agrees that these birds were not electrocuted.”

In a statement of their own, the CDFW said that photos of other dead birds also showed signs of trauma, but the exact causes could not be determined. Officers from the wildlife agency are investigating.

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