Humans know grief all too well. Grief is the response that we have to all types of loss, whether it be towards someone or something that has died. This response to a type of loss can be seen in animals as well. Animals are quite intelligent and self-aware and many of them feel grief and even mourn the loss of a loved one. So is this the same for birds? Do birds mourn the loss of a baby?

Birds do mourn the loss of a baby. These animals have emotions and feelings similar to how humans have emotions and feelings. Many birds mourn the loss of their babies and do so by grieving them for days and weeks after they lose the baby. Birds that mourn the loss of their babies include jaybirds, penguins and pigeons.

Do birds mourn the loss of a baby?

Most folks believe that birds, in general, are creatures without emotions or feelings. But this isn’t the case. Many birds with high intelligence levels have been observed to exhibit certain behaviours that indicate they feel things like us humans.

For example, when a penguin, pigeon, or jaybird loses its baby, it grieves over the dead chick for days and even weeks. The mother bird isn’t as happy or lively as she used to be. And sometimes, she refuses to eat anything.

A friend once told us of how a mother pigeon nesting close to where he lived lost one of her babies and kept looking down where the chick fell to its death. The mother pigeon was so devastated that she forgot she had another chick to look after.

What do birds do with their dead babies?

Sometimes a baby bird dies in its nest. When that happens, the mother bird has no choice but to do something quick about the dead baby.

While a mother bird might mourn her chick for days, she knows she has to either push the baby out of the nest or eat it before it starts to decompose and attracts ants, flies, and scavengers to the nest.

Birds like pigeons and doves will push their dead chick out of the nest. When a bird lacks the strength to toss out a dead baby, as is the case with bluebirds, it just leaves the body in the nest.

In such a situation, the dead chick is crushed by its living sibling(s) and drys out in the nest.

On the other hand, birds like eagles, owls, and other flesh-eating birds will eat their dead babies most of the time rather than toss them out.

Do birds mourn the loss of their mate?

Parrots, penguins, ducks, pigeons, and other strictly monogamous birds mourn the loss of their mate. These grieving birds call out to their dead or lost companion with the hope that it responds to them.

Studies have shown that the death of a bird’s mate is one of the causes of depression in birds.

Can a bird die of a broken heart?

Birds dying of a broken heart is somewhat true for emotionally intelligent birds. If such a bird loses its mate, it gets depressed and may start to engage in self-destructive behaviours – like refusing to eat for days and feather plucking.

So yes, birds can die of a broken heart. However, this isn’t the case for all species of birds. Some birds just move on after the death of their companion like nothing happened.

Where do birds go when they die?

Birds are all around us, flying here and there. But why is it that we rarely come across the bodies of these creatures when they die?

The reason is that when birds fall ill or sustain life-threatening injuries, they instinctively move to a secluded place where they are safe and hidden from predators.

If they die from the illness or injury, their bodies remain hidden until scavengers find and devour them. The bodies that aren’t seen by predators or scavengers quickly decompose.

Conclusion

In conclusion, birds do mourn the loss of their babies, after they lose their babies they mourn for days and even weeks.

When the baby dies the mother either pushes it out the nest, allows it to dry up and get crushed in the nest or she and the other babies eat the dead bird.

Birds that lose a mate will also mourn and can die of a broken heart. When a bird is about to die it chooses a safe and secluded place to do so.

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Can birds eat cashews? Do birds have emotions? Can birds eat hazelnuts? Can birds eat almond butter? Why do mother birds eat their babies poop? What do birds think of humans?