Photo: Andrew Currie Assuming that most birds have pretty short
life spans, what happens when they die? How come we don’t see
thousands of bird carcasses lying around? First, how many birds
are there? Given that birds migrate, it’s difficult to come up
with an exact number for any one location, but it’s safe to say
that the number of birds in the United States numbers in the
billions. Although some birds have long lives, most birds that
you see, like sparrows and finches, live only a few years. Which
does make you wonder, if so many billions of common birds are
dying on a regular basis, why don’t we see them piling up on our
lawns? One reason is because most birds don’t die from old age,
they’re killed and eaten by predators such as other birds and
other animals, especially cats. Another reason is that birds
migrate, and many die along the way and end up in rivers, lakes,
and oceans. Of course, some ex-birds do end up on your lawn. If
you find one before the neighborhood predator does, don’t touch
it with you