"Mourning" A Feathered Friend

Various Species Congegrate Around Deceased Black-necked Stilt

Warning: This episode deals with death and loss.

Over fifteen years I have witnessed several unique experiences in Anguilla’s salt ponds.

This week, while conducting bird counts on East End Pond, commotion occurred with various species vocalizing and flying to the eastern corner. As I moved to their location, the birds seemed focused on a dark object in the shallow water.

Deceased Black-necked Stilt East End Pond

On closer examination, I saw that a Black-necked Stilt had just been hit by the speeding vehicle that passed me. When I arrived on the scene, it was in its final moments of life. Fortunately, it passed quickly while I watched, along with the other birds surrounding it.

As I watched, I wondered if these birds were grieving the loss of the fallen bird. As you can see other Black-necked Stilts were closest. They observed closely and stayed by its side for quite a long time after it passed.

This prompted me to do some research on bird grief. I came across an article by Audubon titled "Do Birds Grieve?" It is an interesting piece with conflicting views.

From prior experience with an Antillean Crested Hummingbird that lost her two chicks in a wind storm, and this incredible display, I believe that birds do at least recognize loss and react to it. Scientific proof of grief is probably not high on the list of research topics with the many challenges birds face in our modern world.

If there is a silver lining to this tragedy the suffering was brief.

The lesson is that many of Anguilla’s salt ponds are in urban areas, and we must be more careful as the two worlds merge. Let’s slow down and respect our wildlife.

Have you witnessed birds experiencing grief? I would love to hear about it in the comments.