Birds, like all living creatures, go through a natural life cycle that inevitably leads to death. In their final days, weeks, or months, birds exhibit common behaviors and physical changes as their bodies slow down and prepare to stop functioning. While the exact behaviors vary by species, there are some common themes that avian experts recognize as signs a bird may be approaching the end of its life. Understanding these changes can help bird owners provide comfort and an appropriate environment for an ailing companion.
Loss of Energy and Appetite
One of the most noticeable signs a bird is approaching the end of its life is a dramatic decrease in energy, activity, and appetite. Birds are naturally energetic creatures, busy foraging, flying, climbing, vocalizing, and interacting with their environments. When a bird starts losing interest in regular activity, spending more time puffed up and sleeping, it suggests its body systems are slowing down in preparation for death.
Healthy birds have healthy appetites and gain enjoyment from eating. As birds near death, they lose interest in food, sometimes eating much less than normal or even refusing favorite treats. Weight loss and muscle wasting become evident. Lack of appetite may start as intermittent but progresses until the bird stops eating entirely in the final days of life.
Physical Changes
In addition to behavior changes, birds exhibit physical changes as death approaches. Plumage becomes dull and ragged since the bird no longer invests energy in preening and grooming. Vent feathers often become soiled from droppings since a sick bird lacks the energy to adequately control its excretory functions.
Eyes may appear sunken and glazed as body fat and muscle deteriorate. The skin under feathered areas becomes thinner. Feet and legs may feel weaker and colder to the touch as circulation slows. Breathing may become more rapid or labored if respiratory systems start failing.
Not all physical changes are visible. Internal organ function declines. Digestion slows, and constipation is common. The immune system weakens, making the bird more prone to opportunistic infections. Kidney and liver function deteriorates. These internal processes affect the bird’s outward appearance and behaviors.
Changes in Droppings
A bird owner can gain important clues about their pet’s health by observing its droppings. As illness progresses, droppings often reflect the bird’s declining organ function. Urates, the white cap on feces, may change color, becoming more yellow, green, or blood tinged. Feces lose their normal form, becoming more watery or unusually loose if gastrointestinal motility decreases.
The quantity and frequency of droppings often decreases as birds eat less food. In some cases, critically ill birds pass very little feces at all in their final days. Abnormal droppings may also result from opportunistic bacterial, viral, or fungal infections. Any drastic changes in a bird’s feces, combined with other symptoms, should prompt an immediate trip to an avian veterinarian.
Increased Vocalizations
Some birds become more vocal when ill or dying. They may squawk, scream, or make other loud noises more frequently. These vocalizations may reflect pain, discomfort, or distress. Birds accustomed to interacting with their human caretakers may increase begging calls for attention. Increased vocalizations may also communicate an injured or dying bird’s fear, loneliness, or disorientation. If there are no other alarming symptoms, increased vocalizations may simply indicate a need for comfort and companionship. Consult an avian vet to identify causes and possible treatments.
Seeking Solitude
When active birds accustomed to social interaction start withdrawing from their environments, it often signals physical or psychological distress. Sick birds tend to stop responding to and interacting with humans, other birds, or cage mates, preferring to hunker down in a corner or roomy nest box. They become less interested in toys, ropes, mirrors, and other elements of their habitats. Birds hiding or seeking solitude require close monitoring as this behavior suggests their health is declining. Make sure they have easy access to food and water sources while avoiding excessive handling and disturbances.
Self-Mutilation
Sometimes birds engage in self-mutilation or self-harm when ill, stressed, or dying. They may incessantly pick, bite, or chew at their own skin, feathers, feet, or legs. Parrots often turn their attention to specialized feathers called feather dusters on their chests. Birds with diets deficient in certain nutrients may also try eating their own feathers or peeling foot skin and nails.Self-harming behaviors may simply reflect pain, anxiety, loneliness, or an underlying medical issue. Immediately contact an avian veterinarian to identify and address the root cause before the behaviors become habitual.
Displays of Aggression
Birds prone to aggressive behavior when over-excited, territorial, or hormonal may become more overtly aggressive when ill or dying. Healthy birds usually restrain aggressive tendencies toward human caretakers and bird cage mates. A sick bird may abandon that restraint, lunging, biting, or attacking unprovoked. Ensure the bird doesn’t have obvious environmental stressors or reasons for aggression. Take safety precautions and consult an avian veterinarian for guidance.
Seizures
A variety of infections, organ failures, neurological issues, toxins, and metabolic conditions can cause seizures in birds. Seizures may start mildly, like simple muscle twitching, but can graduate to frightening convulsions and spasms. Seizing birds often lose control of their bodily functions, flail around helplessly, and appear confused or unconscious when seizure activity stops. Seizures drain a bird’s energy, accelerate physical decline, and often leave them extremely weak afterward. Quick veterinary care is crucial.
Treatment Options
If a beloved pet bird is demonstrating multiple symptoms of approaching death, an owner faces difficult decisions about possible medical interventions. Avian veterinarians can offer tailored guidance based on the bird’s diagnosis, lab work, age, personality, and overall prognosis. In some cases, treatment may help prolong and improve quality of life. Bird owners can discuss options like:
– Medications to reduce pain, anxiety, vomiting, or swelling in the brain.
– Injectable or crop tube-fed fluids and nutrients.
– Hand or tube feeding.
– Infrared heat support.
– Inpatient supportive care.
If the bird’s condition is terminal, the best option may be strictly palliative “hospice” care to keep the bird comfortable in its final days.
Making Difficult Decisions
Perhaps the hardest part of losing a pet bird is determining when euthanasia is appropriate if the bird is suffering and has extremely poor prognosis. There is no ethical “line in the sand”, but in general, it is kindest to let a bird go once it stops eating on its own, shows no interest or joy in life, demonstrate worsening symptoms, and stops responding to medical interventions. Profoundly declining quality of life necessitates euthanasia.
Many vets allow bird owners to stay present during the euthanasia process. They explain what to expect after injection of the euthanasia solution so owners understand their bird simply goes to sleep peacefully before passing. Vets can perform euthanasia at their clinic or make in-home visits if moving the bird causes too much stress. Take time to grieve this profound loss.
Preparing the Environment
As a bird’s health falters, adjustments to its environment help keep it as comfortable and stress-free as possible. Make the following changes to its cage setup:
– Add soft, plush perches lower in the cage so the bird can rest without exerting itself climbing.
– Place water and food bowls on the cage floor for easier access.
– Cover the cage top and three sides to create a dark, cozy space for sleeping and solitude.
– Hang millet sprays or branches with leaves within easy reach.
– Position a safe supplemental heat source nearby to maintain body warmth.
– Ensure quiet; discourage loud music, television, rambunctious children or pets.
A seriously ill bird will likely spend most of its time tucked away in a cage. Keep interactions extremely gentle and minimize disruptions to its rest.
Supplemental Supportive Care
Several supportive care measures help stabilize ailing birds and keep them as comfortable as possible:
Heat
Birds lose body heat rapidly when ill. Ensure the room temperature stays steadily between 85-95 degrees. Spot heat lamps directed into the cage or a heating pad under half the cage provide a warm place to rest. Cover the cage to hold in heat. Monitor temperature carefully to avoid overheating.
Hydration
Dehydration accelerates decline in sick birds. Provide fresh water in clean bowls daily. For birds too weak to drink on their own, a vet can administer subcutaneous or intravenous fluids. Crop tube feeding or injecting electrolyte solutions help restore fluid balance. Signs of dehydration include sunken eyes, dry mucous membranes, and loss of skin elasticity.
Nutrition
Continue offering a bird’s regular food, even if it eats very little. Also provide soft, high calorie supplements like Guardian Angel formula, Nutri-Start, Ensure, or baby bird hand-feeding mixes. Convert solid diets to powdered or liquid versions. Assist eating with syringes if needed. Weight loss and muscle wasting proceed rapidly in birds burning fat and protein stores, necessitating aggressive nutritional support.
Sanitary Conditions
With illness often comes declined hygiene and a dirtier cage. Change bowls, perches, and cage lining daily. Discard soiled items. Feces may stick to vent feathers; gently clean the area if the bird allows handling. Keep the environment clean to prevent additional health issues.
Monitor all excrement for clues about disease progression. Quickly address incontinence, projectile droppings, blood in stool, or other abnormal excretions.
Medications
Follow instructions carefully when giving sick birds prescribed antibiotics, antifungals, pain relievers, anti-inflammatories, and other meds. Use proper dosages and complete entire courses of treatment. Inform the vet if medications seem ineffective or the bird has adverse reactions. Store meds correctly and safely away from other pets and children.
Providing Comfort
In addition to physical care, seriously ill and dying birds need special comfort measures to ease fear and suffering:
Companionship
Don’t isolate a sick bird in an unfamiliar hospital cage away from owners and cage mates. Birds are social and become highly stressed when separated from flock members, even humans. Interact very gently if the bird accepts it. Simply sitting nearby helps alleviate loneliness. Some birds take comfort in a mirror temporarily placed in the cage.
Reduced Stress
Minimizing disturbances allows ill birds much-needed uninterrupted rest. Discourage excess noise, visitors to the sick room, children messing with the cage, and similar disruptions. Handle the bird as little as possible. Transport only when absolutely necessary for vet visits, minimizing travel time.
Familiarity
Bring elements of the bird’s normal environment into the sick cage to provide familiarity and security. Examples include favorite perches or toys, foraging treats, pine shavings from the bottom of the main cage, and well-worn blankets or hammocks bearing the bird’s scent.
Low Lighting
Bright lighting stresses sick birds. Keep lights low and allow access to dark hiding spaces. Snuggling inside a cage tent provides security. Use night lights to check on birds overnight without completely flipping on harsh overhead lighting. Close curtains to block outdoor sunlight if bothersome.
Soft Music
For some birds, calming music reduces stress and aids rest. Try classical, ambient electronica, or sounds of nature. Avoid playing music too loudly right next to the cage. Monitor the bird’s reaction and adjust volume accordingly. Music may bother some individuals.
Pain Management
If a dying bird appears to experience significant pain or discomfort, immediately consult the vet about appropriate remedies. Common medications for avian pain relief include ibuprofen, aspirin, meloxicam, opioids, lidocaine patches, and gabapentin. Only use drugs prescribed for bird species, never making guesses about safety or dosage. Non-medical remedies like aromatherapy may also help.
Signs the End is Near
Certain behaviors indicate a bird is likely in its final hours or days of life. These include:
– Complete refusal to eat or drink over a 24-48 hour period.
– Little to no movement besides occasional shifting or turning of the head.
– Remaining persistently puffed up or fluffed out.
– Closing the eyes for longer periods.
– Appearing unresponsive to familiar voices or stimulation.
– Irregular, labored, or interrupted breathing.
– Passing very little feces.
– Losing large amounts of body weight.
– Inability to return to an upright position if placed on the back or side.
– Coldness spreading through the feet and up the legs.
When several of these signs are present, prepare for euthanasia or the bird’s natural passing, which may occur in the coming hours or days. Gently stroke the bird and speak reassuringly if it seems responsive to comfort. Otherwise, simply remain closeby until the end comes.
Handling Bodies After Death
Despite preparatory knowledge, bird owners often feel shocked and upset when a beloved companion finally dies. It is perfectly normal to need time to process the immediate grief. However, the bird’s remains must be handled properly. Here are recommendations:
Confirm Death
Make sure the bird is deceased before proceeding. Gently touch the body and watch for any movement. Check for breathing and a heartbeat. The eyes should remain fixed in one direction. Muscles totally relax, and the body becomes stiff. If any signs of life remain, do not intervene unless the bird is clearly suffering, requiring emergency euthanasia.
Mental Preparation
Take some deep breaths and ready yourself mentally before removing the body from the cage. Put on gloves if that makes you more comfortable. Have a box, cloth, or paper towel ready to wrap the remains respectfully. Take your time; there is no rush.
Cremation Services
Most veterinary clinics offer private or group pet cremation services if you wish to have the remains cremated and returned. Ask in advance what options are available and associated costs. Cremation allows you to hold onto or scatter a bird’s ashes in a meaningful location.
Backyard Burial
For those who prefer backyard burial, first ensure your area’s laws permit interment of pet remains on private property. Dig a grave two to three feet deep in a site protected from potential future disruption. Line the grave with a plastic bag or storage container. Place the wrapped bird inside and fill the hole with soil. Cover with a stone or marker.
Commercial Pet Cemeteries
Some facilities maintain memorial parks and peaceful burial grounds specifically for deceased pets and service animals. These operate similarly to human cemeteries. They offer casket and urn choices and preparation of remains. Expect associated costs for interment services and plot purchase.
Curbside Pickup
Some municipalities allow placing a deceased pet’s remains in a bag inside a sealed trash can for curbside waste pickup. Ensure you follow all preparation guidelines so the remains are properly contained. This method is inexpensive but less ceremonial.
Preserving Remains
It is possible to preserve a bird’s remains via taxidermy performed by specialists, though this option is often expensive. Consult local taxidermists regarding their experience with smaller bird species and associated costs. Other methods like freeze drying may be available. Not all preservation techniques yield satisfactory, lifelike results.
Wings As Mementos
Some bird owners opt to keep their pet’s wings as mementos after death, especially with larger parrots. This involves gently removing the wings once muscles relax postmortem. If done carefully to avoid shredding skin, wings can be dried, displayed in shadowboxes, and kept as meaningful keepsakes of a cherished companion.
Paw Print Keepsakes
Pet memorial companies offer ornamental keepsakes featuring a clay imprint of a pet’s paw print. Kits allow pressing a bird’s foot pads into modeling clay, then mailing the impression off to be cast in materials like metal or glass. These token remembrances provide a lasting memorial.
The period after a beloved bird’s passing brings intense grief. Be gentle with yourself as you mourn. Seek support from compassionate friends, family members, grief counseling, or online pet loss support groups. Healing takes time, but fond memories endure. With patience, most bird owners can look back fondly and celebrate the joy they shared.
Conclusion
A dying bird’s behaviors and physical condition reveal much about its state and emotional needs during final days. Attentive owners notice eating changes, activity decline, vocalization shifts, self-isolation, and other symptoms emerging as the end draws near. Taking a proactive role maximizes comfort, while hard decisions about euthanasia minimize suffering. With vigilant monitoring and care in a prepared environment, owners help bird companions pass on as naturally and peacefully as possible, bringing some small solace to an agonizing farewell. But bereavement takes time and self-care. By understanding typical avian end-of-life experiences, owners gain knowledge to face the passage with empathy and grace.
