Birds hold 'funerals' for dead

I know a lady who has conversations with her parrot, and its not just a case of the parrot repeating what she says, it actualy answers questions. One day as an experiment I told her to ask it where her husband was, it replied "Silly old farts walking the dogs" He was

Perhaps it is not about looking at animals, but how we humans have viewed death over the eons.

Maybe this is how we started but went off on a tangent and made a warning event i.e. of possible poisons in the area, into a worship event i.e. initially hoping different elements would not become angry, and then hoping that a fictional god often man-shaped would look after the dead.

Man is just another animal and it never ceases to surprise me that scientists find it remarkable that some animals have behavior similar to humans.

It is time for man to become more humble.

Originally posted by DAZ21
You know, I was thinking just the other day.

Where do birds go to die?

I've never seen a bird carcass, unless It's been road kill or a chick fallen from a nest.

So where do they go?

I've seen plenty. I think cats and other animals eat most of them though.

Originally posted by ErroneousDylan

Birds hold 'funerals' for dead

www.bbc.co.uk

Some birds, it seems, hold funerals for their dead.

When western scrub jays encounter a dead bird, they call out to one another and stop foraging.

The jays then often fly down to the dead body and gather around it, scientists have discovered.

The behaviour may have evolved to warn other birds of nearby danger, report researchers in California, who have published the findings in the journal Animal Behaviour.

(visit the link for the full news article)

ErroneousDylan,
Star & Flag! I am absolutely fascinated with birds, wild or tamed, and have come to the conclusion they may be some of the smartest animals I come into contact with on a daily basis. I have no doubt jays are capable of holding funerals for their deceased family or loved ones. I wish more people would give birds more credit, they are extremely intelligent!
Also I may be wrong but aren't jays part of the morbid bird family which includes crows? Who are also so very intelligent! I've always been so impressed to how crows can literally hold court, and have such great memory, they can recognize familiar people just as well or better than we can! Also alert eachother when believed danger is near.
I have a jay and crow that linger in my yard and are as close as best friends, they acknowledge me everyday I leave and return and are always side by side.
I believe birds have an impressive conciousness, and no doubt they are so intelligent it is fascinating. When I was younger my father used to take me bird watching but always reminded me, they are also watching me, lol.
Star & Flag, thanks for sharing!

reply to post by ErroneousDylan


Starred and Flagged...........really interesting article.

And cows cry.

We had a cow, Molly who had a stillborn around the same time as Daisy had a live healthy baby (Joey).

Molly stood over her stillborn calf and cried. Yes cried - cows cry.

Daisy couldn't be bothered with her baby Joey, she couldn't wait to go dancing with El Toro again so Daisy abandon Baby Joey and hung around next to El Toro's fenced pasture.

Molly ended up nursing and mothering Baby Joey and he followed her around like she was his mother.

I always got double the milk (and this was before growth and milk producing hormones) by playing Elvis Presley's "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You".................(I was a Beatles, Paul Revere and Rolling Stones fan but the cows preferred Elvis and Andy Williams, "Moon River").

My grand daughter, when she comes over the birds come around by her when she eats outside, she says that's because they know she'll share her food with them and not hurt them.

Animals again are more aware and more like us than most people realize.

Don't know about funerals but I know they'll conduct a large scale air raid. Few years back my dogs went after a bird that come down in the yard .. The yellow one got ahold of it and it let out a screatch that could probably be heard a quarter mile. The old bird held his own and managed to get loose. He was screatching and running around the fence, trying to get away...i was trying to round the dogs up to get them inside and before i knew it both dogs darted for the door (labs) screaming ...Retreat, Retreat!!! The sky nearly blacked out and I found myself in the middle of an all out ariel attack...they were dive bombing us from all angles..lol Don't know how many but it was at least in hundreds, we barely made it out alive..the birds suffered zero casualties and only the first one was wounded in the attack from what I could tell.. He was gone when finally went back outside, not sure how (6foot fence) since it seemed he couldnt fly when he got loose before his pals came. Not 100% convinced it was a rescue mission., It may have been revenge for something them dogs did before and the first bird was the bait bird lol, seemed like they knew what they were doing lol

Originally posted by Anthony2

I have seen mother cows cry all night when their baby is taken away and so will any animal, they clearly love their babies.




Just wondering.

Why do humans look down on other animals?

I mean we are responsible for how many extinctions?

What about the the hundreds of millions we killed in our history?

A few years ago I was working on a residential road parked in my truck I noticed two birds squawking at each other walking around each other then out of no where about 20 birds came out and circled the other two birds . The two birds that were squawking at each other started fighting , the new birds started getting loud till the fight was over and they all dispersed , it just struck me and reminded me of a high school fight people gathered around cheered then quickly rushed off to the next class.

reply to post by Katharos62191


You are sort of right.

Jays and crows are Corvids, not morbids. Also include the ravens and magpies.

There was a Nat. Geo article on animal intelligence about 1.5 years ago, and if I remember right they rated corvids at about the same intelligence as dogs.
I had a jay that would almost daily fly up, and sit within 5 feet of me while I worked in the yard. Even before I started feeding him and his mate, who would always show up later. Once I started, he would fly over to the fence by my car and see me off to work.
Jays are very intelligent, not "bird brained".

M

Originally posted by John_Rodger_Cornman

Originally posted by Anthony2

I have seen mother cows cry all night when their baby is taken away and so will any animal, they clearly love their babies.

Just wondering.

Why do humans look down on other animals?

I mean we are responsible for how many extinctions?

What about the the hundreds of millions we killed in our history?


I can only say that we are removed from nature and haven't a clue.

We were living in Sri Lanka when the tsunami hit. Even with the high death toll of humans, reports were that there were no dead animals found. They had all moved inland when the waves hit.

Our dog unfortunately killed a young adult robin this year. Two adult robins stayed in our yard and chirped all day looking for their child (I presume).

Animal intelligence, both emotional and intellectual, I believe are greatly underestimated.

Originally posted by selfharmonise
reply to post by SpearMint

 

Really?

Birds are very smart.
.

I once saw a crow attempt to get Jessie, our neighborhood cat, hit by a car. The cat was crossing the street, cars were coming, and so this crow was swooping down on the cat to mess with it, and the cat, stopped in the middle of the road was up on its hind legs and flailing with his front paws trying to swipe at this big black and very annoying bird, and only at the very last instant, seeing the cars right on it, did Jessie narrowly escape with his life, the bird's spontaneous strategy only thwarted, by a hair.

Which make one wonder about dolphins and whales. They have intelligence and gather in groups to catch fish.They are indeed smart as well.

reply to post by morefiber


Thank you for the correction! I am glad you told me that so I don't label them incorrectly again.
I do enjoy the company of our 'bird friends' that see us off and acknowledge us, it amazes me. Almost as if some are just as fascinated with us as we are them. I will have to check out the national geographic article, I probably have the issue laying around since I have more national geographic mags than anyone should lol.
Also it is interesting your jay even starting bringing his mate over to check things out too, how cool! Shows how smart they really are. Ravens being a part of the corvid family as well, have shown nothing but extremely intelligent minds and knowing they are all part of the same bird family fascinates me. Even magpies show smarts, I usually see them in large groups here in the south. I agree jays and the rest of the corvid family are definitely not 'bird brained'.
Thanks again for the correction!

wow that is amazing! and also very sad

saw a crow land onto power lines and got fried, soon after many crows appeared and continued to circle and caw out in response to what happened, it was like watching a ritual with these birds having turns of swooping down like they were paying their respects to a fallen comrade then returning to circle above until all were done.

mabe it could be just a learning thing to avoid a danger for the others to witness, although it really did seem like a funeral of sorts with so many crows coming to join in together and stay by the side of the crow which died on the pole.

reply to post by Katharos62191


If I remember right, it has a black and white pug dog with a quizzed look on the cover.

They have been ruling the skies for about 100 million years, and descended from the most diverse and successful animals that ever lived. Like you, they are facsinating to me.

Peace

reply to post by redgy


Redgy,
Funny you should mention that, I have read that crows will actually sit, watch and learn from other crows mistakes as to not make it themselves. They are keen observers!

Originally posted by happyzodiac
Which make one wonder about dolphins and whales. They have intelligence and gather in groups to catch fish.They are indeed smart as well.

Yes, but don't go swimming with the males.

This story does not surprise me. I can not on quite a few occasions about my pets revering the deceased as we do at funerals. In particular, something similar to what is mentioned in the OP occured when my family's Tortoiseshell cat died under her favorite bush in the backyard. She must have been over twenty or so.

Every one of our cats would sit with her remains for a period of time, and then would get up and leave. Like paying their respects. Then another would take the place of the cat that just left. It was quite fascinating to watch. We gave them their time throughout the day, and then we buried her. It was very close to what I would expect at a funeral.

Then another instance occured when another one of our cats died, a Siamese. She and my dog were very close, and the dog would lick her head like cats do when they clean each other. Well, she died after about twenty or so years, and I am out in the back ready to bury her. My dog comes up from behind me and starts poking her remains with his snout. He does this for a short period, and learns that his friend has died. The dog actually started to wimper. It was like he was weeping, or even mourning the passing of his friend. Truly amazing. I tend to believe that some animals have funerals for their brethren as we do. I have seen something similar to it with my own eyes.