- On Facebook (and on Twitter to a lesser extent), a video showing countless birds fidgeting on a large parking lot provokes many reactions.
- It would show a disturbing phenomenon, according to the surfer who shares it.
- If the sequence was indeed filmed in the United States, as its legend claims, it dates back several years and such a gathering of birds is not unusual in Texas.
“Invasion of crows in the USA… .. The beginning of the end ?? "On Facebook, a video viewed more than 289,000 times and massively shared since it went online on Saturday, May 9, worries some internet users.
Filmed from inside a car, it shows, on a large parking lot, countless black birds. Whether they are perched on surrounding cars, walking on asphalt or flying in an impressive cloud, they seem to stretch as far as the eye can see, as in Alfred Hitchcock's cult film, The Birds .
The scene went well in the United States. But it is not as recent as its legend claims - or that of another cover on Twitter -, does not show crows and is not unusual for some residents of Texas: the cries of anguish that we hear on this extract have been added to the original sequence to make it more disturbing.
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These images were filmed in front of the entrance to a shopping center located in Carrollton, Texas, as can be seen on Google Street View, where there is clearly the logo of the sign "H Mart" and the mention luminous "Groceries & more" under the number "2625".
This video was already circulating in April with the same anxiety-provoking audio track, punctuated with lamentations supposed to come from people stranded in their cars. There is thus a long version lasting several hours on the “Today reports” page, specialized in sharing videos with high viral potential.
But this version is doubly misleading since in addition to these sound effects added a posteriori, it broadcast the extract live, as if the images were filmed on the fly ... while they are much earlier than this Facebook Live. It is thus clearly seen, in the first seconds of the extract with more than 289,000 views, that the video is cut and suddenly passes from one passage to another.
The ViralHog site had posted the original sequence on April 17 on its YouTube page, stating that it had been filmed in December 2016 in Carrollton. We find there the images included in the other videos - from 1'52 below - with the original audio track, in which we simply hear the videographer comment on what she observes, without any particular panic in the voice.
A gathering often seen in Texas
She also explained to ViralHog the context of her shooting, detailed in the caption of the YouTube video: "I was leaving the [H-Mart store] and getting back to my car with my shopping when I noticed that the birds were very noisy. But they did not occupy the sky as much as what we see on the video. I got into my car […] and as you can see, the area quickly filled with birds ”.
“Apparently, these birds [a kind of robin] come together when the sun goes down. I don't know why, scientifically speaking, but there is one and it often happens, ”she continued.
This impressive phenomenon is indeed frequently observed in Texas, and is often the subject of videos or press articles, as we have seen in particular in recent years. And according to the local press, these birds gather massively to protect themselves from nocturnal predators, who are all the less likely to come to attack them in areas as bright as these imposing shopping centers.
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