Deceased bird mystery (1 Viewer)

[Jimbojones1000]

Hello, we have a mystery which involves the discovery of two dead birds, and I hoped someone on here might be able to shed some light.

I was recently digging footings for a new office at our business, as I dug approx 300mm into the ground(with a digger) I saw something blue in the spoil. I stopped and went to look, it was two birds right next to each other, at first I assumed they were an animal toy(we run a boarding kennel, a nice one, where all the dogs love it), because they looked in perfect condition, but as I looked closer they clearly were real birds.

I got them out with a spade, they weren’t in any packaging(bag/box etc..) and they were basically in perfect condition. I then assumed they must be stuffed, I poked one with a spade and congealed red blood was visible.

It’s not feasible that I hit them with the digger, they were 100% buried, and the blood was clearly partially congealed and not that of something which had just died.

They were about the size of a small pigeon, a blue colouration with some grey.

I left them to the side, and everyone who works for us had a look and we’re baffled, the next day they had started to decay.

I realise this is a macabre subject especially on a site that’s dedicated to birds, but this mystery has baffled everyone, one of our staffs other half works for rentokill and he even asked about it in their management meeting and nobody had a clue. I hope I haven’t caused any offence, it wasn’t my intention, I just wondered if anyone had any clues?

Thanks very much for any answers

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Various birds nest in underground holes. Where in the world are you?

 

[Butty]

So... They were lying dead on the ground, you dug up the area with a digger without having noticed them, and later found them in the pile of muck you had dug up. Where's the mystery?

 

[maplekong]

How they came to be buried underground? I think this means that they were buried underground before being disturbed by the digger.

as I dug approx 300mm into the ground(with a digger) I saw something blue in the spoil. I

 

[Jimbojones1000]

Sorry, the mystery is why they were in the ground(I got them out of the wall of dirt, not the spoil, the soil, predictive txt) and why they hadn’t decomposed, I should have been more clear. There are people who have worked here for 12 years who don’t remember anyone burying a bird, plus it was under our staff car park which is gravel, plus they were right next to each other, completely encased in soil. I’m in the UK.

 

[Jimbojones1000]

Actually further information. It was the second day I had been digging, so I suppose a determined animal could have burrowed horizontally from the disturbed face into the soil, which I later dug, but why would they, do any birds do that? I imagine any bird that buried itself would be small, these were pretty good size, I’m cursing myself for not taking a picture now.

 

[Jimbojones1000]

So... They were lying dead on the ground, you dug up the area with a digger without having noticed them, and later found them in the pile of muck you had dug up. Where's the mystery?

No they were in the face of the dig, I just exposed them slightly, I had to extract them with a spade, they were 300mm down from the surface.

 

[Butty]

If there was anything that remotely resembled blood they were quite recently dead.

 

[Jimbojones1000]

If there was anything that remotely resembled blood they were quite recently dead.

Yes, I understand that, but how? They were underground, in an area that hasn’t been disturbed in 12 years, under MOT type hardcore. There is zero chance that I put them there by accident, they were fully encased in soil. that’s why I’m asking here, whether there is some bird which would have burrowed into that disturbed face, fully burying themselves, in July in the UK?

 

[Butty]

I don't know why you would suspect a bird as having been the cause particularly. I have no answers, but, in such mysterious happenings, if I suspect anything/anybody, it's usually small boys.

 

[qwerty5]

Perhaps it was some sort of terrestrial predator that brought the birds to its den, which then collapsed as a result of the excavation disturbance?

 

[maplekong]

I think that's the first valid explanation.

 

[dantheman]

I had a fairly similar experience a few years back.

I was digging shallow footings by hand for a large shed/workshop and came back a few days later to do more work. In the soft soil (yellow subsoil) in the bottom of the trench after scraping it a little bit deeper I noticed something odd sticking up. Turned out to be the ears of a freshly dead rabbit, completely buried in what was undisturbed soil. The whole rabbit was there as I dug further.

My best estimation was food caching by a fox. Wasn't even sure they did that. It felt quite macabre at the time.

 

[bjd]

Foxes will cache food by burying it underground so that could be an explanation. I once discovered a fresh woodpigeon about a foot down in my allotment which came as a bit of a surprise! But I can’t see a fox digging through hardcore.

 

[maplekong]

Maybe be they dug from a nearby spot to under the hardcore.

 

[maplekong]

Maybe be they dug from a nearby spot to under the hardcore.

I know it's weird, but very little in this thread makes sense anyway...

 

[qwerty5]

Foxes will cache food by burying it underground so that could be an explanation. I once discovered a fresh woodpigeon about a foot down in my allotment which came as a bit of a surprise! But I can’t see a fox digging through hardcore.

It could have buried them overnight, after the hole had already been started.