Dianne Schill age 11 of Tucson Arizona for her question:

What happens to dead birds?

Many readers have wondered why the world is not littered with the bodies of dead birds. After all countless numbers of the dear little creatures perish every day. Actually, the body of a bird is very light for its size    and also very fragile. And, of course, the world of nature has many clean up systems and trash collections that operate day and night.

The bodies of many dead birds are consumed by buzzards, crows and other scavengers. Those that remain hidden soon fall apart The pieces are devoured by beetles, ants and various other insects and the final remains are broken apart by decay bacteria. Usually within a day or so the body of a fallen sparrow has become a crumbly assort¬ment of chemicals    some of which will become useful plant food.