A viral video showing a flock of hundreds of yellow-headed blackbirds flying straight into the pavement in the Mexican town of Cuauhtémoc has left a lot of people scratching their heads about the cause.

Footage from a security camera shows a large flock of yellow-headed blackbirds descending upon on a house before brutally crashing into the asphalt. Although most of the birds manage to take to the skies after the bizarre crash, many can be seen scattered on the street, barely moving. Subsequent videos showing dozens of bird carcasses confirm that the unusual descent had been fatal for some of the birds.

According to local reports, the incident happened on the morning of February 7, but went viral last week, after it found its way onto Mexican social media. Now, experts are trying to come up with answers for the birds’ unusual behavior.

“For my part and from one video and no toxicology, I’d still say the most probable cause is the flock murmurating to avoid a predatory raptor and hitting the ground,” Dr Alexander Lees, a senior lecturer in conservation biology at Manchester Metropolitan University, told The Guardian.

“This looks like a raptor-like a peregrine or hawk has been chasing a flock, like they do with murmurating starlings, and they have crashed as the flock was forced low,” Dr Richard Broughton, an ecologist with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, agreed. “You can see that they act as a wave at the beginning, as if they are being flushed from above.”

 

Despite the explanation offered by experts, many on social media are inclined to believe conspiracy theories involving 5G technology, electrocution and even extreme pollution.

Similar incidents involving birds have been reported before, such as when birds fell from the sky in Rome, Italy, during last year’s New Year’s Eve celebration.