There's a little dead bird in our back yard

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

A little finch or sparrow. The ants are already climbing all over it. Poor thing. I'm not used to dealing with dead birds in my yard; what should I do?

[Roon]

1. Leave it be..

let Mother Earth absorb the corpse.

[HereSince1628]

2. I'd do nothing and leave it for the critters

It won't be there long.

[Zeke]

3. Purge With Fire...

If you're in the Sacramento area,
it's probably a west nile virus
dead bird.

Careful.

[Lisa]

4. seconded -- don't touch without disposable gloves

There was a recent case here in Canada, where someone got WNV after contact with a contaminate bird corpse.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

5. We're in Irving, TX

We have a bird feeder, and it's lying close to that. I wonder if it got into an altercation; there are a few black feathers lying around (look like a cowbird's feathers, perhaps).

[trof]

6. West Nile?

We're supposed to have dead birds tested if intact and unmarked.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

7. I don't know how long it's been there

It does look like its little face is partially bashed in. Poor thing. I haven't touched it, though!

[complain jane]

10. I know how you feel. Poor little thing.

But if I were you I'd let him be, and let nature take him back.

[BikeWriter]

8. An inverted zip lock baggie would protect you to pick it up.

Then discard it.

[miss_kitty]

9. Here's what I do

I put on my gardening gloves I get a garden spade (the small hand one) and dig a hole in the garden, pick the bird up with the spade and drop it in and cover it up. I thrust the spade in the soil to clean in off.

You can do the same with a regular shovel.