Have you ever seen a bird in the wild die a natural death?

Question

When a bird dies naturally in the wild does it sit on a tree limb then die, falling to the ground? Does it die while in flight? And oddly enogh with as many birds as there are I just don't see their equivalent ever lying around dead? I know animals carry off many but that many?

Answer 1

You know it is funny that you ask this question about birds...In the past I asked the same question about moose, and why it was that you never see a dead moose laying in the woods that wasnt killed by something or someone. I found out why.....I lived at a hunting camp for a while when I was younger and one fall a group of hunters came back with a very strange tale indeed, they had been hunting moose way out in the bush I mean truly the middle of nowhere here in Northern Canada with no roads etc. and they had been following a moose when they came upon a strange spot in the woods, they described it as being a mossy semi swampy clearing with bumps and hummocks all over and bones all over the place, all moose bones when they looked at them, they also discovered that there was even older bones underneath the hummocks and in fact that was what made the ground so bumpy. They also found the fresh carcass of a moose that had no wounds or bullet holes or anything on it that gave a clue to how it died except that its face and back were covered in fur that was almost completely grey and the body was laying among some bones that seemed to be fairly new. The only explanation they could all agree on was that this was where moose came to lay down and die if they were hurt or old and sick and unable to survive any longer. Since that day I have come to believe that animals that arent killed by people or other animals, and are too old or injured to stay alive have a place where they go to die. I have never seen a dead animal that wasnt killed by people or other animals just laying around in the bush and I have lived here for quite a while....deer, bear, wolves, coyotes, where do they all go? not all die from predation or hunting its impossible. I think they all have a place of thier own that they go to die from natural causes or sickness. Maybe birds do the same thing, I dont know but I do know what those hunters saw really affected them not one wanted to go hunt moose anymore and they all believed that what they had seen was a moose graveyard. Even talking to a guy from the MNR who spent 30 years of his life in the woods he has never seen an animal laying around that just died of old age or other natural causes and after he heard whta the hunters had to say he said, that it certainly explains why he has never seen a wolf, bear, moose, deer or anything else "just dead" in the bush

Answer 2

I have found birds that have died from disease or starvation, but I've never actually seen them keel over at the moment of death. Of course, I've never seen a human die either, and I'm not terribly eager to do so.

Birds that die of diseases such as West Nile virus often simply topple out of their perches, and are found on the ground below afterwards. Scavengers like dogs, coyotes or raccoons will often take them fairly quickly if they are found.

I have heard reports of birds dying in mid-flight, coming crashing out of the sky, but I'm not sure I trust the sources of many of these tales, and it might not be entirely accurate. I suppose it is possible that a sick bird that is trying to fly to cover or water dies while in the air, but it seems to me that a bird that is sick enough to be near death would be too weak to fly as well.

Answer 3

I often see dead birds laying about...probably because I am a wildlife biologist and am out in nature all day everyday. Lots of them are carried away, or eaten by insects, but many are in perfect condition when I find them meaning they did probably die while flying or off of a tree limb.

Answer 4

Nature is a cruel place. Most birds don't die of natural death. They are food for other animals.

Answer 5

I found an adult brown bird (thrush?) dead near my back doorstep about two weeks ago. No sign of any injury or visible disease. Seemed like natural causes and that was where it died.

Answer 6

IDK is death by cat natural for a bird? Our Daschund has personally contributed to the mortality rats of parakeets by offing two of our birds but he thats the way it goes, you forget to close the bird cage and the dog eats them.

Answer 7

i seen baby birdies falling out of nest,that's about it.

Answer 8

no sorry