Where Do Birds Go To Die? (Complete Guide)

Have you ever wondered why dead birds are so rarely seen? There may be as many as 430 billion birds on Earth, and they often live short lives. However, we can hardly find their remains.

Most birds have no control over where they die. The end could come from a collision with a window, or from the talons of a falcon or eagle. No matter how a bird dies, predators or scavengers will likely find and eat it quickly. Birds that die in exposed areas are quickly spotted by animals such as foxes, crows, or any other scavengers.

For injured or sick birds, retreating to a shelter to recover is the safest option. Those who do not succeed will die in these hidden places. They may escape the notice of larger scavengers, but there will always be smaller creatures such as ants and flies around to spot them.

Read on to learn more about where birds die and why we don’t see their dead bodies as often as you might think. This is a topic that most people never think about, but the answer might surprise you!

Predators or scavengers are usually quick to find the remains of dead birds

Why can’t you ever see a dead bird?

Most people have seen dead birds in nature or even in their own backyards, but probably not as often as they expected. There are three main reasons why we rarely see dead birds.

The first reason is that most birds are caught and eaten by predators, or at least soon after dying from other causes. The second reason is that an unfed bird will rot quickly outside, and the last reason is that a sick bird will find a sheltered place to rest but may never recover.

Read on to learn more about why dead birds are so rare to see.

Injured birds usually find a sheltered place to rest

Many of the dead birds we see are those that have been hit by cars and parked on roads where they can be easily seen. Are they still there when you drive down the same road the next day?

Sometimes, but usually they are taken by hungry animals. Very little waste is discarded in nature because of the presence of various scavengers and decomposers. Raccoons, skunks, opossums, coyotes, house cats, and other animals will eat dead birds. Other birds like hawks and crows do too.

Most sick or injured birds are quickly caught by predators. Coyotes, for example, are perfectly capable of catching a healthy bird, but it requires great skill and more failures than successes.

However, an injured bird is an easier target, and predators know it. They keep a close eye on the movements of other animals, always on the lookout for signs of weakness.

Even birds that aren’t captured by predators or eaten by scavengers will be eaten by something. Birds are very small creatures under their massive plumage, and they decompose very quickly.

Ants and flies are always looking for food and they eat very fast. Add decomposing bacteria to the mix, and a bird can be reduced to a few feathers in a matter of days.

Birds decay rapidly, with remains mostly gone within a few days

What happens when a bird is dying?

In nature, birds don’t usually die for long periods of time. Few birds are free to occupy the top of the food chain, so they are easy prey when their health is low. In fact, for every songbird, there’s a long line of capable predators looking for a quick meal.

If a bird’s health is low, it may keep a low profile and try to hide from predators. They’ll pick dense bushes or caves where they can try to restore.

However, birds need to eat regularly, so they are forced to forage or succumb to energy loss. Dying birds usually show some obvious symptoms of distress. These can include:

• Do not try to escape from humans or predators
• close one or both eyes
• adopt a hunched posture
• ruffled their feathers
• Excrement stuck to the feathers around the vent area
• bleeding

An unfortunate sick sparrow on the ground

How Do Most Birds Die?

Birds die from many natural and human-related causes. It is difficult to quantify the most important causes of death because different birds lead very different lives. Let’s take a look at some of the most common causes of bird death.

collision

Birds have very special bodies that are lightweight but relatively fragile. This is a typical trade-off in flight capability. Unfortunately, their light weight, fragile construction, and ability to travel at high speeds put them at serious risk of injury from a collision. Birds do collide with natural structures like tree branches, but man-made structures are especially deadly.

Windows is a typical example. Birds will try to fly through windows, especially where it looks like they could get out through another open window on the other side of the room. Windows are also highly reflective, so birds often fly into windows thinking they are flying towards whatever is being reflected.

Of course, windows aren’t the only things birds bump into. Moving cars, power and telephone lines, fences, towers, bridges and buildings all pose significant risks to birds.

Collisions with windows kill many birds each year

poisoned

In the United States, tens of millions of birds die each year from poisoning. These toxins include heavy metals like zinc and lead from mining waste, industrial and agricultural chemicals, pesticides, and even poisons like Avitrol that are specifically used to control birds.

disease

Wild birds can contract a number of different diseases, many of which are fatal. Common bird diseases include:

• poultry botulism
• fowl cholera
• Avian conjunctivitis
• Avian Influenza
• salmonella
• west nile virus

Keeping feeders clean is critical to preventing disease

prey

North America has a variety of carnivores that eat birds. Many of them are opportunistic hunters and scavengers, preying on birds whenever they get the chance. Others, like the razor-sharp hawk, are dedicated bird hunters.

These are just some of the variety of American carnivores that feed on dead or live birds.

• snake
• eagles like cooper’s eagles
• falcons like peregrines
• owl like great horned owl
• raccoon
• Coyotes
• fox
• skunk
• opossum
• bobcats
• weasel
• Martens

Peregrine falcons feed on dead and live birds

Do birds die with their eyes open?

Birds can die with their eyes open or closed. However, a dead bird with its eyes open doesn’t necessarily die that way. Whether a bird dies with its eyes open or closed may have a lot to do with its cause of death, but little research has been done on the matter.

Do birds go stiff after death?

Birds usually do not freeze upon death, although they occasionally arch their necks back or stop suddenly, depending on the cause of death. Immediately after death they become limp, but with the onset of mortis, they become rigid.

Rigidity is the technical term for skeletal muscle stiffness that occurs after death. This happens a little faster in birds than in mammals. For example, mallard ducks go into full rigidity in 1 to 2 hours, while domestic chickens and turkeys take 1 to 3 hours.

In some species mortis develops more quickly, e.g. mallard ducks in just one to two hours

Do birds know when another bird has died?

It is difficult to determine whether birds have the consciousness of knowing life and death. However, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that birds mourn the loss of other birds. Many birds pair and mate for life, forming an understandably deep bond.

Some birds, such as certain crows, have even been seen performing “funerals” around their dead bodies. However, this behavior is not well understood.

Our innate human emotions often lead us to draw conclusions about birds based on our own perspective. Still, birds do have well-developed brains and seem to be clearly capable of experiencing emotions.