My question is simple. Where are all the dead birds? Even in my desert
neighborhood there must be thousands of birds living in all of the
neighborhood trees and it certainly sounds like it on some mornings,
yet I have never seen any dead birds in my yard or in the yards of my
neighbors. I have only seen a few dead newly hatched birds that have
fallen from nests, but no adult sized birds. Surely, I think, I would
have seen some in my lifetime. I do not think the cat population is
sufficient to handle this issue. I go to parks and see no dead birds
there either. I don't mean to be morbid about this, but I am certainly
curious.

Hi there,

Quick answer: Birds which get sick are easy prey, so they get eaten
before they have a chance to die of their illness. There are many
animals that will quickly devour a dead bird, especially cats, dogs
and rats. Otherwise insects will get them.

I found a webpage which quotes a book entitled "Why do clocks run
clockwise? And other imponderables', by David Feldman. The quote goes
like this:

------------

Why don't we ever see dead birds ?

... but why don't we ever see one dead [bird] from natural 
causes ? Don't they ever keel over in flight ? Do birds go 
someplace special to die ?

Surprisingly, birds don't fly anywhere particular to die. 
The reason we don't see dead birds is that they are quickly
scavenged by other animals. Although this sounds like a cruel
fate, bird expert Starr Saphir views it differently, marveling
at the efficiency of the natural world.  The moment a bird can
no longer function, it is used as a valuable fuel.  Birds are
eaten by cats, dogs, rats, opossums, small insects, and even
bacteria.  Saphir told us that she has led birdwatching walks
and seen the intact but dead body of a bird on the ground on
the first leg of the walk;  on the way back, an hour later, the
majority of the body was already scavenged. Within 24 hours,
the remains of most birds in the wild or in an urban area,
would presumably become only a pile of feathers.

Richard C. Banks, vice-president of the US Ornithologist's
Union, told 'Imponderables' that a few birds might actually
die in flight (although he had not personally ever seen this
happen). The most likely candidates would be migrating
birds flying over the ocean, far away from food sources and 
without convenient landing spots to fight off exhaustion. 
Sick birds generally don't take wing in the first place.
http://www.tamil.net/list/1998-11/msg00330.html

------------

I also found this page which is specifically about Robins:

"But usually when robins get sick, their slow flight and confused
actions make them easy for predators to find, so the robins get eaten
rather than simply keeling over dead. Robins weigh only about 2 1/2 to
3 ounces, so when one does die of a sickness, it doesn't take long for
scavengers to make it disappear!"
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/robin/ExpertAnswer02.html
 
Dr Universe looks into the maggot side of things:
http://www.wsu.edu/DrUniverse/gross.html

A kid from Club 80 believes your question can be answered with just
two words:
Chicken McNuggets
http://www.mtzioncc.org/youth/quotes.html

Four other opinions via the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-6002,00.html

Finally, there seems to be a lot of websites discussing dead birds and
the West Nile virus. Any time you come across many dead birds, you can
assume there's something wrong.


Search strategy:

"see dead birds"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22see+dead+birds%22

Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga

Hummmmm......I'm sure that all those experts have probably provided
the right answer, and it is logical too, but.... I'm still not all
that convinced. Like I said, we don't have a very large cat
population, and I live in the desert. I'm 53 years old. I just can't
help thinking that I should have seen at least 10 dead birds in my
life. I am an avid Google user (information junkie), but somehow I
never thought to search for the answer in the way you did because none
of the people I asked in person has ever considered the question. It
is simply incredible that Google has come up with 583,000 hits to "see
dead birds." Thanks.(that sure was a quick and easy way to make $3.75)

Actually "see dead birds", surrounded by quotes, only has 113 hits, of
which 72 are unique. Most of these are regarding the West Nile virus.
It is easy to dismiss a search as being quick and easy, but there is
actually a level of talent/experience/intuition/luck involved as well.

I reckon I would see about 10 dead birds a year, and I mostly hang out
in the city. I wouldn't consider myself the most observant of people.

Dear robertskelton-ga, I only put the quotes around "see dead birds"
in my comments to you so as to set off the words. I know that using
quotes brings different results in a search. Also, I am not one to
dismiss your or anyone's search as being quick and easy. I understand
the "level of talent/experience/intuition/luck " that you speak of. I
understand because I posess this skill myself, and it is definitely a
skill not everyone has. I am often a source for friends who need
information and I find I have an excellent knack for this, and it is
based on talent, experience, intuition and luck. You have put this so
well. I really do appreciate your efforts on my behalf. Since you have
this skill, I know it was a quick and easy way for you to earn a few
dollars. I'm jealous. Peace....zipidydoda-ga ( I swear I never see
dead birds.)

i saw a dead bird once. in chicago, december of 2001. it was frozen in
the snow. maybe that's why it hadn't been eaten - too hard to eat a
frozen bird.