• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Garden birds (1 Viewer)

Sazzyox

Active member
United Kingdom
Hi all,

Just out of curiosity, does anyone else feel sad when they find out one of their garden birds is no longer alive. I may have mentioned it before, but I get sad when the sparrowhawk feeds in the garden. However, I see a lot of your usual “sparrowhawks need to eat too” etc on posts on a group on fb when the sparrowhawks have been in someone’s garden. (I’m a silent reader/poster, I see so much stress against people who are just expressing their sadness and I just feel it’s inappropriate to comment such hate when such and such care for the birds they feed).

Of course I know sparrowhawks have to eat also, that’s a given. But does anyone else get too attached to their garden birds that they know which is which and such like? We have multiple blackbirds, and a few that know when it’s breakfast etc as they come and stand next to the table I’m putting the food out. But we had a blackbird who had lost a lot of feathers including his tail recently and he hasn’t been all day, so I went out earlier and seen a lot of feathers that look like blackbird feathers, and I just feel gutted as I have a feeling it was him. If not, it was obviously one that feeds here. But it just makes me sad. And again, I know sparrowhawks need food and that nature is nature but surely it’s not just me who feels sad and gutted that one of our garden birds has become dinner to another and you can’t help but feel guilt. I always think about them thinking of their final moments and it’s just so hard to put it out my mind. Sorry for the long post. But I’m just wondering if anyone else has this kind of connection with their garden birds as I know a lot of people find it laughable. I have a big heart and I can sit and watch owls and kestrels hunting and not feel the same sadness but when it comes to the garden, I just feel so much ache when the birds become dinner. I’m assuming it’s because I feel like I “know” the garden birds rather than the birds or mice that the other BOP get.
 
It’s interesting I don’t know my gardens birds well enough but it was sad when one of the pigeons that regularly sat at the back flew into the window and left an imprint of its last moment on the window and I had to take it off and bury it. I guess in my case I see probably 20+ new birds each year with the newly hatched sparrows etc which all nest in the roof / hedges. So it’s one of those balance of life and death things. It is sad when they go but where there is death there is often new life.
 
It’s interesting I don’t know my gardens birds well enough but it was sad when one of the pigeons that regularly sat at the back flew into the window and left an imprint of its last moment on the window and I had to take it off and bury it. I guess in my case I see probably 20+ new birds each year with the newly hatched sparrows etc which all nest in the roof / hedges. So it’s one of those balance of life and death things. It is sad when they go but where there is death there is often new life.
Awww. I have things on my window as there’s nothing worse than hearing that bang and seeing marks and realising there’s a bird died. I feel your pain. Maybe a sparrowhawk chased him into the window. They’re pretty clever like that. We have so many sparrows and starlings and dunnocks too, a few live in our gutter/loft. They used to in my neighbours but they’ve put spikey things in their gutter to prevent them. They’re all more than welcome in our loft. 🤣. But yeah. That’s the way I try to look at it, when they go, there is new life. But at the same time, I just get so attached as if I class them as “family”. I think it’s more the case each one is unique so I know which is which when they come and see me. But I just try to think about how short their life is and how they’re probably better off out this world. But it just doesn’t make it easier. I have far too much empathy and compassion for animals, more so than humans, and I have read a few people can feel like me and feel sad when they feel they’ve lost one of their “garden friends”. I just have a thing about overthinking the what ifs. Like what if I was listening. What if I was watching them. Maybe they’d be ok. And then I’d think like “I feed them, it’s my fault”. But then I think, would it happen if I didn’t feed them? They just break my heart haha! But I think because I find so much comfort and joy feeding the garden birds and watching them and listening to them, I think I have just grown a bond to them that I feel like I owe them protection. Thank you for replying!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top