Avian Morbid Recluse

http://i.imgur.com/uZs9U0o.jpg

Since the erection of this blog I have been fighting constantly to maintain a connection with my title, The Clumsy Bird. The spontaneity of my decision has kept me on edge in mind and pen to explore a world much different than ours, a world not restricted by walls or water.
So without digression I present my latest dilemma.
Free of humanly dangers (namely cars), that expose us to such morbidity, birds have been able to avoid a large part of the Darwinian games. So if they are not dying at the hand of their own stupidity, 

Where do birds go to die?

It's hard to say exactly... Because they are such free creatures, they have a near limitless amount of choices when the time comes to decide their grave. So how do they choose?

Exploring the possibilities I imagined an elderly majestic eagle accepting his impending fate and plummeting to his glorious death over the snow covered mount tops of Alaska. But how often do you see birds fall out of the sky? I wouldn't know, I suppose I am never watching for it (maybe I will begin).

Scavenging through google I found a very informative answer on askville from amazon.

The explanation offered by darwin™ states that birds, like many other small animals, are readily taken when found in the wild. The reason you don't see many dead birds laying around is because they have already become a snack for other animals (rats, raccoons, foxes, vultures), ants, maggots, worms and bacteria. AND, darwin even goes as far to mention that like many things, the answer is in the eye of the beholder. Have you ever started looking for a new car and found one that you really liked, then all of a sudden you see that car everywhere?

But this really only answers half my question, and now that I think of it, how pertinent is the afterlife of a bird to my initial problem? Through some productive googling I believe I have found the answer and unfortunately it is not as majestic as the one I had hoped.

Birds, like most animals, seek solitary shelter in times of weakness. When, sick, old or wounded, birds will fly solo and seek sanctuary. The reason for this is because, ailment unspecific, being alone is what may save them and their "herd". When sick, the bird will be unable to effectively avoid predation, so hiding lowers the possibility of them getting picked off, allowing them a chance to possibility recuperate and return to their gang. Interesting enough, their instinctive isolation is also a method of preventing the spread of sickness throughout their herd. When wounded, for the same reason, hiding could expand their life if they are able to recover.

As I explore these conclusions, I still have not found complete closure. In my initial realization I had not accounted for the many ways that birds can pass, I suppose my obsession with this topic is more focused on the natural expiration of our avian friends.

To be further explored...

Some interesting elaborations on a similar matter can be found here.