Dizzy Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Ok a strange question but one that is frustrating me...... How come it's very rare to see dead birds ? Have you ever seen one fall from the sky as it pops its clogs in mid flight I've not. Have you ever found birds dead in the middle of your garden or on a pavement somewhere (that haven't been caught by a cat or hit by a car) ? I've not. Do birds know in advance that they are going to die and fly/hobble off to some special place where no-one will ever find them? Strange Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 A good question, Dismayed, I have often wondered that myself. However, I can give you a little information on the lifespan of small garden birds such as robins and sparrows. They only live for just over 1 year. If you consider that there are about as many robins this year as there was last year, so if there was a pair in your garden last year then there will be a pair this year. In the mean time, that original pair had, say, two broods of 5 young - that is 10 new robins. But, by the start of the next breeding season there are still only 2. So, how many have died? Obviously out of 12 birds, 10 have died. That's more than 83%. Ringing studies have shown that about 60% of adult robins die each year. There is a high mortality rate among fledglings (about 72%). So, sad though it is, the 2 robins in your garden this year, are probably the only survivors of the 2 adults and 10 fledglins from last year. Let's face it, if this wasn't the case we would be over-run by birds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Ever wished you had not asked a simple question Brain overload OK Victor... I think I understand (actually I don't and I'll have to sleep on it ) but IF the little birdies only live for a year then surely we should see even more dead birds unless of course they eat EAT their LIVE older relatives to survive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Little dead birds contribute to the food chain, they get eaten by bigger live birds and various other meat eaters; and insects who get eaten by small live birds who then become......................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 They get chewed up in the turbine of the aircraft engine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingnut Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Do birds know in advance that they are going to die and fly/hobble off to some special place where no-one will ever find them? I always had the same thoughts about tramps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DS Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Actually, I DO quite often find dead birds in my garden and in the roads nearby. They usually end up in my wheelie bin. If most other people who find them do the same, that would explain why you don't find many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 despite living next to sankey valley park and wandering around the place with the dog have only ever seen one dead bird there. it was in the canal.(possible suicide?) have seen many bunches of feathers and the odd wing where a dead bird has been eaten by another animal(could be a fox) so maybe that is the answer. magpies are probably the main culprit for the removal of the deceased. seen them many a time rummaging in the bins on sankey valley and making a right mess as they toss rubbish all over the place.(this usually gets blamed on inconsiderate visitors ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 I blame the Magpies and Crows. they like a bit of meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 All make sense and sound reasonable..... ( best not mention wingnuts comment as I dread to think what he'll say next ) So.... has anyone ever seen a magpie eating a dead bird DS.... do you put the ones you find in your black, green or blue bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 There are lots of "dead birds" in the s/markets; especially prior to Xmas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 I found a dead blackbird in the garden yesterday with no obvious sign of any injury so maybe this was a non-conformist. Anyway, he ended up in the bin wrapped in tissue paper thus one less dead bird to perpectuate the mystery. I think with garden birds, especially their fledglings, they so often fall prey to cats. They don?t actually eat them but generally play and maul with them then bring them into the house dead. The sad thing is that once a cat realises that fledglings are about, they?ll keep going back for more until they?ve had the lot. So the reason you don?t see many is that they?re all in my bin. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingnut Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 All make sense and sound reasonable..... ( best not mention wingnuts comment as I dread to think what he'll say next. I've just picked meself up off the floor,I've only just come round. Me mam saw me writing the other post and thought I was talking about her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Putting dead birds in the bin is changing the food chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 the first year I moved into my house which has a huge garden I began to suspect it had some 'inherent evil curse' like in some cheap horror flick as on a weekly basis we were finding dead birds in the garden..unmauled, shot, damaged...they litteraly looked like they had just fell from the sky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Did Hitchcock own it before you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Normally the only dead birds I see are the ones ravaged by the family cats! The cats wear huge cow bells but they still manage to get the occasional bird - I presume these must be elderly birds who are on their last legs (wings). But today I saw a dead sparrow on the pavement on Wilderspool Causeway - perhaps now our attention has been drawn to this topic we will all notice more dead birds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Now, here's a thought................a lot of course fish have been disappearing from lakes and canals etc. and the cause was discovered to be imigrants removing the fish that they caught and taking them home to eat. They claimed that they did not understand that, in this country, we fish for sport and not for the table. Perhaps some of them are catching our birds and shipping them to far off destinations to work in sweat shops, making cat food, for a handful of seed a week. This could explain why we don't see many dead birds, they all die of fatigue in far off lands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Really Too much sun Victor ????? You will be telling us next that all the dead birds are collected by a special team of dead bird 'catchers' and they are used to fill feather pillows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Now you are just being silly, Dismayed. Remember, it was you who started this subject and ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,(I've forgotten what I was saying). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Never been called 'silly' on here before Victor so thanks ... it's a nice friendly word is that... much nicer than stupid Anyway appologies as I thought you were joking about migrants eating our course fish from canals and fisheries etc... untill I googled it Seems they catch and eat Carp (mainly at Christmas) along with roach, perch, pike etc etc too Some apparently fished from a canoe and others used snorkles on a provate fishery to get their tea Guess that is classed as a new form of 'pole' fishing Anyway back to dead birds.... just incase you forget again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Really Too much sun Victor ????? You will be telling us next that all the dead birds are collected by a special team of dead bird 'catchers' and they are used to fill feather pillows They do, it's the little people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Leave Hazel the Hobbit out of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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