Longevity of Birds in Captivity

BUT little is known of the length of life of birds. Bird banders are doing some valuable work along these lines, but even their data must necessarily be very incomplete. It is difficult to state how much longer a bird will live in the wild than in captivity. In the wild state very little is known of the duration of life. It is, however, extremely doubtful if any birds live long enough to die of old age, as their lives are traveled on a road beset with dangers, and eternal vigilance and hard work are the price of living. Thousands of birds meet violent deaths yearly either by being killed by other birds, mammals or reptiles, flying against buildings or wires during their migration, or are shot by hunters. Besides this, many perish because of the vicissitudes of the weather and lack of food. They certainly have many advantages in captivity, the greatest of which is the protection from their enemies. There is never a scarcity of food or drink and they are protected from severe weather at all times. It is also a fact that some specimens in captivity do die of diseases ofthe heart, blood and kidneys which are diseases o common in human old age. It is, however, difficult to say whether the length of life is shortened by captivity or not. I have, prepared the following list showing the duration of life of a few species in captivity in the Philaddphia Zoological Garden, which I hope will be of interest. Among the Passefine birds the Yellow-headed Blackbird heads the list with 18 years, the Jungle Babbler, 16 and the Himalayan Chough, 14. The Hyacinth Macaw lived 27 years and a Hornbill 24. Among birds of prey the Griffon Vulture lived 27 years, while a Gray Goose led the water birds with 26 years.