--- title: Avian Cholera Kills Thousands of Birds in Idaho description: The birds, which were migrating from Mexico to Alaska, “just fell out of the sky" canonical: https://time.com/3748008/thousands-geese-fell-sky-idaho/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-17T18:37:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T05:13:39.406Z article:section: Health og:title: Thousands of Geese 'Fell Out of the Sky' in Idaho og:description: The birds, which were migrating from Mexico to Alaska, “just fell out of the sky" og:url: https://time.com/3748008/thousands-geese-fell-sky-idaho/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Thousands of Geese 'Fell Out of the Sky' in Idaho twitter:description: The birds, which were migrating from Mexico to Alaska, “just fell out of the sky" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Thousands of Geese 'Fell Out of the Sky' in Idaho by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Mar 17, 2015 6:37 PM UTC by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Mar 17, 2015 6:37 PM UTC At least [2,000 snow geese were found dead](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/03/17/basically-they-just-fell-out-of-the-sky-2000-snow-geese-found-dead-in-idaho/?tid=sm%5Ftw) in Idaho over the weekend, many plummeting to the ground mid-flight, according to local officials. The birds, which were migrating from Mexico to Alaska, “just fell out of the sky,” a spokesman for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game told [_Reuters_](http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/thousands-of-snow-geese-fall-dead-from-sky-in-idaho/ar-AA9RLl3). The Fish and Game Department believes the birds died of avian cholera, a bacterial disease that can kill wildlife in as little as six hours. Officials are burning the dead carcasses in hopes that other birds won’t pick up the disease. However, a group of 20 bald eagles has already been spotted near the carcasses and officials say it will be difficult to track the birds to see if they develop the disease. While avian cholera can be fatal to birds, it poses little threat to humans, officials said. \[[_Washington Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/03/17/basically-they-just-fell-out-of-the-sky-2000-snow-geese-found-dead-in-idaho/?tid=sm%5Ftw)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3748008/thousands-geese-fell-sky-idaho/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3748008/thousands-geese-fell-sky-idaho/"},"headline":"Thousands of Geese 'Fell Out of the Sky' in Idaho","datePublished":"2015-03-17T18:37:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:13:39.406Z","description":"Disease kills birds in as little as six hours","url":"https://time.com/3748008/thousands-geese-fell-sky-idaho/","keywords":["Disease","birds"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/disease/","name":"Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3748008/thousands-geese-fell-sky-idaho/","name":"Thousands of Geese 'Fell Out of the Sky' in Idaho"}}]}] ```