How To Tell If A Bird Is In Shock, Unconscious, Or Dead?

So you want to know how to tell if a bird is in shock, unconscious, or dead.

This article will give you all the answers you need if you’re asking yourself this question and after I’ve given you the answer to this question then you should make sure to keep on reading as I’ll be answering a few more closely related questions as well.

How to tell if a bird is in shock, unconscious, or dead? A bird that’s in shock will be fluffed up, slow breathing, wounded with blood, unresponsive, and weak. An unconscious bird will often show a rising and falling breast as they’re still alive and breathing, and a dead bird will not be breathing and moving anymore.

Another sign of a bird that’s in shock is when the bird in question does not fly away when you get close to the bird. It can also happen that you find a bird lying immobile and stunned on the ground which is another sign of a bird that’s in shock.

You could also encounter a bird being in shock whenever its eyes are swollen or bleeding. Or you could encounter a bird being in shock because of its limbs being injured.

If the bird in question happens to be unconscious then it is smart to examine its oral cavity by opening its beak. If necessary and possible then you should remove any obstructions in its oral cavity.

Why do birds go into shock?

There are many situations possible that would result in the bird going into shock. Birds can, for example, go into shock because they’re sick or injured. Birds can also go into shock after getting hit by a car, after flying against a window, or because of being attacked by a cat.

As you can already tell, life brings a ton of challenges to birds which can lead to a bird potentially going into shock. My advice would therefore be that if you ever encounter a bird that’s in shock that you then take care of the bird.

All the signs of a bird being in shock

Many signs could give away that a bird is in shock. Various signs that give away that a bird is in shock are:

That the bird is unresponsive.
That the bird is weak.
That the bird is breathing slowly.
That the bird is fluffed up.
That the bird is wounded and is bleeding.
That the bird does not try to fly away when you come close to the bird.
That the bird is lying immobile on the ground.
That the bird’s eyes have crusts, are swollen, or are bleeding.
That the bird’s limbs have been injured.

I’m sure that there are many more signs that give away that a bird is in shock but above I’ve mentioned at least the most obvious ones to give you a good idea.

Check the video below if you want to see what a bird can look like when it’s in shock.

What to do if a bird is in shock?

Whenever you happen to encounter a bird that is in shock then you could place the wild bird in a cardboard box. Next, you should cover up the box with a towel and then you should place the box in a cold and safe place, and then release the bird once the bird has recovered.

When releasing the bird, however, you should always make sure that you carefully handle the bird and that you protect your hands with gloves as birds can carry many diseases with them.

Are there situations possible where the bird seems to be in shock but is not?

There are certain situations possible where the bird seems to be in shock but is not. The bird could, for example, be unconscious instead, or the bird in question could be playing dead which is a phenomenon that occurs occasionally in animals.

Playing dead is a common phenomenon in animals as this tactic gives them a better chance to survive a potentially dangerous situation.

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Why do birds become unconscious?

Birds are very active animals as we know and therefore it can very well happen that birds can hit hard surfaces whenever they, for example, need to flee from common predators. An obvious example of why birds can become unconscious is when the bird accidentally hits a window.

The bird in question won’t be able to correctly see the glass when it is flying fast and therefore hitting the window hard can’t be prevented.

But apart from windows, birds can also accidentally fly against brick walls if they’re not paying enough attention whilst they’re flying.

All the signs of a bird being unconscious

Many signs could give away that a bird is unconscious. Examples of these signs are:

That the bird is unresponsive.
That the bird’s eyes are closed.
That the bird has injured limbs.
That the bird is breathing slowly.
That the bird is not moving.
That the bird is wounded and bleeding.
That the bird isn’t trying to fly away whenever you move close.
That the bird isn’t breathing properly because of an obstruction in its oral cavity.

I’m sure that there are many more signs that give away that a bird is unconscious but above I’ve at least mentioned the ones that came up in my mind.

Check out the video below if you want to see what an unconscious bird can look like.

What to do if a bird is unconscious?

There are certain steps that you can follow whenever you happen to encounter an unconscious bird. Let’s go through the steps right now.

Step One: Before handling the bird you should put on gloves to protect yourself.
Step Two: Use a towel to scoop the bird up and then put it into a shoebox (with holes, of course, so that the bird can breathe).
Step Three: Put the shoebox in a safe spot where the bird can recover.
Step Four: Whenever the bird isn’t injured then it will likely be very active again within one hour, so in this case, it is best to wait for the bird to become active again.
Step Five: Once it is strong again then you can release the bird.
Step Six: If the bird does not seem to get better or shows injuries then you should contact a wildlife rehabilitator.

Also, you should make sure that you never open the box within your house when the bird is showing signs of being active again because if you open it then you can be sure that the bird will burst out of the box.

Are there situations possible where the bird seems to be unconscious but is not?

There are situations possible where you might be thinking that the bird in question is unconscious whilst it is instead, for example, dead, playing dead, or in shock. Especially, the signs of a bird being in shock or being unconscious overlap a lot.

In both the conditions of shock and unconsciousness you can, for example, experience that the bird is breathing slowly, that the bird is wounded and bleeding, or that the bird has injured limbs.

Now you know how to tell whether a bird is in shock, whether a bird is unconscious, or whether a bird is dead. But do you also want to find out if birds are considered to be mammals? If this is the case then you should check out the article: “Are Birds Mammals? (Explained In-Depth)” which will give you the answer to this question and also answers to a few more closely related questions.

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In what ways do birds die?

There are a lot of different ways that could result in a bird dying. Examples of these ways are:

That the bird has flown against a hard object or surface.
That the bird gets eaten by one of its common enemies, like, for example, a cat.
That the bird dies because of old age.
That the bird dies because of dehydration.
That the bird dies because of starvation.
That the bird dies because of too low temperatures.
That the bird dies because of too high temperatures.
That the bird dies because of a virus.
That the bird dies because of a parasite.
That the bird dies because of an issue with its internal organs.
That the bird dies because of exhaustion.
That the bird dies because of pollution.
That the bird dies because of poisoning.

As you can already tell, the list that was mentioned above could pretty much go on forever as there are an almost unlimited number of ways for a bird to die during its lifetime.

Above though you can at least get a good idea of what dangers a bird could face throughout its lifetime.

All the signs of a bird being dead

Many signs could give away that the bird in question is dead. Examples of these signs are:

That the bird isn’t responding to touch.
That the bird is bleeding and is wounded.
That the bird is not trying to actively escape from you when you’re close by.
That the bird isn’t moving at all.
That the bird’s heart isn’t beating anymore.
That the bird isn’t breathing anymore.
That the bird has lost too much blood.
That the bird has lost essential organs or body parts
That the bird’s body and feet are stiff.

Above I’ve mentioned at least the most obvious signs of a bird being dead but I’m sure that there are a lot more out there.

Is it possible for a bird to be dead when its eyes are open?

You can be sure that whenever a bird has died because of a certain reason that its eyes can still be fully open. This can happen because the eyelid muscles of the bird in question relax when it dies which causes the eyes to fall open and stay open.

It can, however, also be that you’ll find a dead bird with its eyes closed as there are many situations possible that could result in the eyes of the bird closing just before they die.

What to do with a dead bird?

Whenever you encounter a dead bird then it is best to never bury its body as this will attract many predators. It’s best to put the dead bird in a plastic bag instead and then throw the plastic bag away with your other household trash.

I know that this might seem cruel to some bird lovers but this is the best way because it will ensure that the dead bird’s body will cause no harm to hungry predators.

Are there situations possible where the bird seems to be dead but is not?

There are various situations possible where it might seem that the bird is dead but instead is still alive. The bird could, for example, be playing dead, the bird could be in shock, the bird could be stunned, or the bird could be unconscious.

It is therefore always important that you double-check the bird’s condition whenever you think that it’s dead as it could potentially need your help.

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What other checks can you do to see if the bird is still alive?

There are many checks that you can do if you want to see for yourself if a bird is still alive or not. Examples of these checks are:

That you check if the bird is still breathing.
That you check if the bird’s heart is still beating.
That you check if the bird has lost too much blood.
That you check if the bird is still moving or not.
That you check if the bird’s legs and feet are stiff as this can be a major sign that the bird in question has died.

When you’re looking for movements in the potentially dead bird then you should always make sure that you monitor the bird’s movements for at least 10 minutes as a bird that’s still alive should move within this timeframe.

Conclusion

Now you know that birds will show certain signs when they’re either in shock, unconscious, or dead. When a bird is, for example, in shock then you can expect the bird to be fluffed up, slow breathing, wounded with blood, unresponsive, and weak.

Unconscious birds will also show certain signs, like, for example, that they’ll still have a rising and falling breast as they’re still alive and breathing.

Dead birds will, of course, not be breathing anymore and they also won’t be moving anymore.