# Dead bird = bad karma? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746 "2004-06-05T01:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/1 "2004-06-05T01:41:14Z")
I found a dead bird on my front porch today. Birds sometimes mistake windows for wide open spaces, and unfortunately find out too late how hard windows can be. I am a bit reluctant to ask, because I am thinking of negative connotations, but … are there any old wives tales about finding a dead bird at your front door? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/2 "2004-06-05T03:26:01Z")
_Evil Things_ are certain to follow… :eek: Especially if the bird died from West Nile Virus. If you find another dead bird, indicating this was more than a rare accident, I suggest putting it in a plastic bag and taking it to your Vet or health dept. to be checked out. ---
**Author:** ![Roadwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Roadwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadwalker)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/3 "2004-06-05T05:31:33Z")
I have to back up John, this is very important, call your local health department. ---
**Author:** ![Necro\_Romancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/50afbb/32.png) [@Necro\_Romancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necro_Romancer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/4 "2004-06-05T07:05:24Z")
> [@](#): > > I am a bit reluctant to ask, because I am thinking of negative connotations, but … are there any old wives tales about finding a dead bird at your front door? My grandmother always told me that was a bad sign. I don’t know whether she was implying I would have to do anything wrong for it to happen, or if it was just by chance, but there you go. It may just be a story in her family. As for the virus thing, yes, you should check into it. But really, an bird dead from the West Nile Virus landing on an anti-semite’s porch? There has to be a wives’ tale in there somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/5 "2004-06-05T17:14:03Z")
> [@Necro Romancer](#): > > As for the virus thing, yes, you should check into it. But really, an bird dead from the West Nile Virus landing on an anti-semite’s porch? There has to be a wives’ tale in there somewhere. I never considered that, perhaps it’s one of those muslim terrorist birds. 😃 It’s nice to see you don’t hold childish grudges. I heard a thud on my door a few hour before I found the bird, but I appreciate the west nile concern. If I see any other dead birds around here, you can bet I will have it checked out. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/6 "2004-06-05T17:51:11Z")
> [@Necro Romancer](#): > > But really, an bird dead from the West Nile Virus landing on an anti-semite’s porch? There has to be a wives’ tale in there somewhere. I have no idea why you felt it advisable to toss a personal insult into this discussion, **Necro Romancer** , and don’t really care. It had no part in the discussion at hand, and no part in **IMHO**. In short, it was jerkish behavior. You will _not_ do this again, **Necro Romancer**. Consider this formal notice that you need to clean up your act. TVeblen ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/7 "2004-06-05T17:57:22Z")
Hang a bird silhouette on the window so they will figure it out. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Roadwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Roadwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadwalker)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/8 "2004-06-05T20:05:23Z")
I had faied to mention that my parents found a dead owl a week or so ago in their yeard. The health dept seememd unconcerned. 😕 There are a lot of feild mice being poisoned nearby so that may have explaned that. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/9 "2004-06-05T20:48:41Z")
A bird hitting a window is a sign that news is on the way. A bird dying from hitting your window is a BAD THING, according to my grandma. She says it means BAD news is coming, like an illness or an accident. I had a pigeon kill himself on my window last year, though, and nothing bad happened (although the bird may disagree). The moral of this story: stop cleaning your windows, you bird-killer! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/10 "2004-06-05T22:29:32Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > The moral of this story: stop cleaning your windows, you bird-killer! 😛 HA!!! Reminds me of the aunt in Vacation calling Chevy Chase a dog killer. I don’t think clean windows is the problem at my house, believe me. 😃 I live in a veritable zoo down in FLorida. I’m surprised I don’t see more dead critters than I do. The last few hours of sunlight down here puts a real intense glare on my front windows, that might have something to do with it. Maybe I should put a couple pair of little birdie sunglasses out there for them? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/11 "2004-06-27T06:13:06Z")
Speaking of dead birds… I found two dead sparrows in the garage today; my neighbor found one in her yard and three more in another neighbor’s yard. We’ve been told to bag 'em and put them in the trash. They’re not hitting the windows, though. We’re guessing it’s West Nile. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/12 "2004-06-27T06:29:27Z")
I remember an old episode of “the Waltons” where a supersticious type told Mary-Ellen that her baby would die because she’d seen a dead bird. It’s the only place I’ve ever run across that one, though. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/13 "2004-06-27T06:46:25Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > … I am a bit reluctant to ask, because I am thinking of negative connotations, but … are there any old wives tales about finding a dead bird at your front door? 😕 Was it an albatross? 🙂 People are probably right to say “worry if this is repeated” but …is it possible that local youths were taking potshots at birds and got this one? ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/14 "2004-06-27T07:21:55Z")
I may be wrong, but I think the old wife’s tale is that a LIVE bird that gets into the house is bad luck. When we were living on the 8th floor of a building in Berlin, we had a sparrow we called “kamikaze” (sp?). It was the same bird that constantly would fly smack dab into our picture window, fall on the balcony and be dazed and then come back and do it again the next day. We knew it was the same bird because it had a few odd white feathers on one wing. This went on for months. Friends thought we were crazy until they were there and observed it for themselves. One day kamikaze stopped coming. We hoped he finally figured out we were closed for business and he went off to Italy or something. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/15 "2004-06-27T07:50:36Z")
If it’s an albatross, and you are a sailor, you are in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/16 "2004-06-27T10:57:42Z")
Well, several weeks have gone by and no bad karma has surfaced, yet. This bird was your run-of-the-mill pedestrian starling. I haven’t seen any more dead birds, or any other dead animals around my place since, and I like that idea. Every year in the late winter the warblers invade certain parts of Florida. Talk about fearless birds, these little fellas are nuts. I was sitting at an outside bar and a warbler decided to fly in and perch on the shoulder of my friend sitting next to me. They seem to fly like a frog jumps, just get from point A to point B, never really having a flight plan for point B. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/17 "2004-06-27T15:30:29Z")
Perhaps you have a secret admirer cat? I went to work one day and saw an “imprint” of a pigeon on our window at work. I saw no body anywhere so either the bird was fine after or it wandered off and died. The imprint was very cool because it looked just like a drawing of a pigeon in flight but it was powdery. It was also weird because a few weeks before I had run across a website with some oddities on it and one was a picture of a “ghost” pigeon on a window. If the bird did wander off and die, I don’t suppose it could add anymore bad karma to that place. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/18 "2004-06-27T16:01:33Z")
What about killing a bird? I recently became an Ace, hitting my fifth bird while driving. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/19 "2004-06-27T16:29:53Z")
> [@Tiramisu](#): > > Perhaps you have a secret admirer cat? This is the first thing the OP made me think of. I found a dead bird on my porch about a month ago, and I just figured The Cats had something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-bird-bad-karma/248746/20 "2004-06-27T17:57:30Z")
It’s a bad omen; I don’t think “Karma” figures into it much, unless you killed it yourself and karma would be the followup.