Expert: Roger Lederer - 6/4/2007

Question
The other day I mounted a new bird feeder to my deck on the second floor of my home.  I went out to dinner and came back to find a dead bird on my deck.  It was a small to medium bird and it was all gray.  I examined it for injuries and found none.  I did see, however, a brown discharge from his bottom.  Some discharge was noted on the bird feeder and some was noted on my deck.  My question is, how did this bird die?  I don't think a cat attacked it as it should have fallen to the ground and not to the deck.  Plus, I saw no feathers around or injuries to the bird.  Could the bird have died of sudden distress?  Could a predator hawk have attacked it from air killing it without leaving a mark?  My big concern is this will happen again.  Is my bird feeder in a dangerous spot?  Thank you in advance for your response.  

Answer
Sorry I did not respond sooner but my internet connection failed for a day.Well, it is impossible for me to determine how the bird died. Bird mortality is very high and they die from stress, starvation, severe weather, disease, pesticides and other toxins, predators, etc. I doubt whether your bird feeder or its location had anything to do with it. If 10 birds die in the same way in a week, that would be a different story. Roger Lederer at Ornithology.com