Editing Beebe, Arkansas (section)

==Repeated blackbird death incidents==
{{see also|2010–2011 midwinter animal mass death events|Bird kill}}
Beebe made international news in early January 2011 following the death of more than 3,000 [[red-winged blackbird]]s and [[European starling]]s over the community. Arkansas state wildlife authorities first received reports on December 31, 2010, shortly before midnight. Further investigation revealed the birds fell over a one-mile (1.6&nbsp;km) area of Beebe, with no other dead birds found outside that concentrated zone. The birds showed signs of physical trauma, leading one ornithologist with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to speculate the blackbirds might have been killed by lightning, high-altitude hail or possibly even fireworks. The birds were sent to laboratories in Georgia and Wisconsin for [[autopsy|necropsies]] and to determine the cause of death.<ref>[https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110102/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_dead_birds_arkansas ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111145739/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110102/ap_on_fe_st/us_odd_dead_birds_arkansas |date=January 11, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/03/why-did-thousands-of-birds-drop-dead-in-the-arkansas-sky/ | magazine=Time | date=January 3, 2011 | title=Why Did Thousands of Birds Drop Dead in the Arkansas Sky?}}</ref> On January 5, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission confirmed that the incident was caused by a resident setting off professional-grade [[fireworks]], startling the birds into a panic flight.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-01-05-arkansas-dead-birds-fireworks_N.htm | work=USA Today | first=Elizabeth | last=Weise | title=Fireworks likely cause of massive Ark. bird kill | date=January 5, 2011}}</ref>

On New Year's Eve 2011, a few hours before entering into 2012, blackbirds again were reported to be falling to the ground in Beebe. Several hundred had plunged to their deaths according to the local television station [[KATV]] which also reported that its radar had shown a "large mass" over the town.<ref>{{Cite news |title= Dead blackbirds fall again in Arkansas town |url= http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/12/31/dead_blackbirds_fall_again_in_arkansas_town/ |work= [[Boston Globe]] |agency= [[Associated Press|AP]] |date= December 31, 2011 |access-date= January 1, 2012}}</ref>