What happens when you die?

[spain]

I hope I'm not over posting tonight, but I just have to know, how does it affect our birds when we die? I'm 50, so I know Dino will outlive me, but thankfully, my friend Fran (short for the Spanish Franacisco) who has the two B&Y Macaws is 28, so he'll take Dino for me. That's a done deal. Its a thought I've had on my mind since the start and I need to know.

[angelicarboreals]

I have heard of instances where pet birds become severely depressed, don't eat or play as usual, or even pull out their feathers when a beloved owner dies.

[mmr]

I think birds mourne just as we humans do. They become very attached to us, so when we are no longer around, their routine has stopped, everything that they once knew is completely different.
On the lighter side I do believe they eventually come out of it and learn to love another.

Just as humans...Time heals all wounds!

[spain]

Hi mmr. That's just what I needed to hear :-) I had hoped they would build a new life, as we must at times.

[jenseits]

The better socialized your bird is throughout his/her life the easier the transition will be if anything should happen. Sometimes it's not just death, sometimes "life" gets in the way, and as much as we would like to swear that our birds have Forever Home, it's too often not realistic. In either case, your bird should have lots of opportunities to meet new and different kinds of people, see and stay in different places, experience different things... a well socialized bird will better be able to adapt when it comes time to make a change (voluntary or not). A major disruptive change for a bird who is not used to change, on the other hand, could make it difficult for him to cope. So do everything you can now to prepare your bird for anything that might come up in the future.

[pippy]

My daughter will have my birds if they outlive me (I'm 39, my daughter is 17). If they outlive her.................

[donnakris]

I have made arrangements with a sanctuary, and it's in my will, for my fids to go there.

[spain]

Jenseits.

I'm one the right track then. I take Dino to Sol & Luna's house at least 3 times a week. I also take him to the beachside cafe with me quite often and he meets all sorts of weird and wonderful people there. (More of them are weird than wonderful), but I like the interaction he gets with everyone. My breeder said the most important thing is socialising him, so that's what I've done from day one. He also has my 3 cats to deal with and I'm trying to teach him their 3 names. So far all he says is "Hola" though, but I figure that is pretty good for just 10 days with me.

[xafsmom]

My daughter gets almost all of the pet birds. The breeders will be sold unless she continues breeding. A couple of the pets go to specific people if they live longer than I do. Everything's been written in a will all nice and tidy.

[loyallyroyal]

well, hopefully I outlive my ekkie Dewey, lets see eclectuses live about 50 years, so I should be about 66 when he dies. If I dont outlive him I have a younger brother.