Where The Dead Pigeons Are

“When you think about it, why don’t you see carcasses more often of most small (sparrow) to medium-sized (pigeon) birds? The answer is that most are cryptically colored (blends in to the background) and that decay processes and scavengers clean them up quickly. In Atlanta, from April through October, blowflies and ants can reduce a dead sparrow to a pile of loose feathers in a few days. In winter, opossums, raccoons, rats, cats, dogs, skunks, foxes, coyotes, crows, and Turkey Vultures clean up the dead. These same scavengers operate in the warmer months too, but blowflies often beat them to the punch…. Yes, the world would be a lot smellier without nature’s cleanup squad (including the smallest and most important decomposers — — bacteria and fungi)!”
 — Here’s your answer to the age-old big city pigeon conundrum.