Ask Lafeber

sudden death of my cockatiel

Hi, I have recently lost our beloved female cockatiel, which we have had for 6 years and 3 months, but she was older than this, as we got her from a family member’s friend, so I don’t know exactly how old she was. She has always been very healthy and taken very good care of, she was her usual happy self the day before she died, which is why I can’t rap my head around her death so suddenly the next morning I got her out of her night cage and put her in her day cage, and then I noticed her breathing rapidly, was an extremely hot day, so I sprayed her lightly with the mist spray but it didn’t help, then I pick her up on my hand and a few minutes later she died in my hand. I am so heart-broken

Hi Roslyn,

I’m very sorry for your loss. Birds have a very high metabolism, so “sudden” death is quite common. Most like it was just her time – maybe it was age related. While they can try to hide signs of illness, an owner can normally notice even the most subtle change, so my guess is this was internal and age related, and at least she didn’t suffer. As for heat, they do not have a high heat tolerance, but it would have had to be over 90 degrees F to be dangerous for her. She would have been panting with her wings extended far away from her body in an effort to cool off.

Take care,

Brenda