- For a list of all birds in Don't Starve, see Category:Birds.
–Wilson, when examining the Redbird after winter.
Birds are passive Mobs in Don't Starve. There are 3 kinds of birds in Don't Starve and in the Reign of Giants DLC: Crows, Redbirds, and Snowbirds. There are 5 kinds of birds exclusive to the Shipwrecked DLC: Toucans, Seagulls, Parrots, Parrot Pirates and Cormorants. Canaries and Puffins are exclusive to Don't Starve Together. In The Gorge event for Don't Starve Together, there is the Pigeon.
They can be found in every biome during the Day and Dusk. They fly down from off-screen and peck the ground for a few moments, then fly away. When they take flight, there is a chance that Seeds are left behind, unless it's Winter. Birds will also be attracted to Seeds left on the ground. If the player or most other mobs get too close, birds will be frightened away.
When killed, birds drop a Morsel or a Feather, and all other birds nearby will fly away. They are considered innocent creatures and killing them directly adds points to the player's naughtiness level, which causes Krampus to appear. Killing a Crow adds 1 point to the player's naughtiness level while killing a Redbird or Snowbird adds 2 points to the player's naughtiness level.
Crows can appear in any season, while Redbirds and Snowbirds appear only in Summer and Winter, respectively. Additionally, Redbirds and Snowbirds land mostly on Grassland, with Crows being the most common bird in the other biomes.
Hunting
Birds can be caught using a Bird Trap. Placing the trap on the ground will eventually catch a bird even without bait. Adding bait such as Seeds or Berries will greatly decrease the time it takes to catch one. They can be Murdered by right-clicking them in inventory to produce a Feather or Morsel, or be cooked on a fire for a Cooked Morsel. Birds in the player's inventory can be dropped on the ground and will flop on the ground belly-up for a short while before flying off. They can also be imprisoned in Bird Cages.
Hunting Birds requires a ranged weapon such as a Boomerang. Birds will not land within melee range (even if bait is placed on the ground) and will fly away when the player approaches. However, if they are put to sleep when using characters with a normal damage modifier, they can be killed in 1 hit with a sufficient melee weapon.
If a bird is in flight while in range of a sleeping item's effect, it will plummet to the ground and can be picked up as an item.
Wearing a Feather Hat will increase the number of Birds spawning as well as decreasing the time between spawns. Using Birds of the World (while playing as Wickerbottom) will also cause a large number of them to land.
One can send a Smallbird to attack a Bird. This can be done without the bird getting frightened and without raising naughtiness.
They take one blast from the Ice Staff to be frozen and one Sleep Dart to be put to sleep.
Examination Quotes
–Wilson, when held.
–Willow, when held.
–Wolfgang, when held.
–Wendy, when held.
–WX-78, when held.
–Wickerbottom, when held.
–Woodie, when held.
–Maxwell, when held.
–Wagstaff, when held.
–Wigfrid, when held.
–Webber, when held.
–Walani, when held.
–Warly, when held.
–Woodlegs, when held.
–Wilba, when held.
–Wormwood, when held.
–Wheeler, when held.
–Winona, when held.
–Wortox, when held.
–Wilson, when held.
–Willow, when held.
–Wolfgang, when held.
–Wendy, when held.
–WX-78, when held.
–Wickerbottom, when held.
–Woodie, when held.
–Maxwell, when held.
–Wagstaff, when held.
–Wigfrid, when held.
–Webber, when held.
–Walani, when held.
–Warly, when held.
–Woodlegs, when held.
–Wilba, when held.
–Wormwood, when held.
–Wheeler, when held.
–Winona, when held.
–Wortox, when held.
–Wilson, when held.
–Willow, when held.
–Wolfgang, when held.
–Wendy, when held.
–WX-78, when held.
–Wickerbottom, when held.
–Woodie, when held.
–Maxwell, when held.
–Wagstaff, when held.
–Wigfrid, when held.
–Webber, when held.
–Walani, when held.
–Warly, when held.
–Woodlegs, when held.
–Wilba, when held.
–Wormwood, when held.
–Wheeler, when held.
–Winona, when held.
–Wortox, when held.
–Wilson, while in water.
–Willow, while in water.
–Wolfgang, while in water.
–Wendy, while in water.
–WX-78, while in water.
–Wickerbottom, while in water.
–Woodie, while in water.
–Maxwell, while in water.
–Wagstaff, while in water.
–Wigfrid, while in water.
–Webber, while in water.
–Walani, while in water.
–Warly, while in water.
–Woodlegs, while in water.
–Wilba, while in water.
–Wormwood, while in water.
–Wheeler, while in water.
–Wilson, when held.
–Willow, when held.
–Wolfgang, when held.
–Wendy, when held.
–WX-78, when held.
–Wickerbottom, when held.
–Woodie, when held.
–Maxwell, when held.
–Wigfrid, when held.
–Webber, when held.
–Winona, when held.
–Wortox, when held.
Downloadable Content
In all DLCs, Birds inside the player's inventory will starve in 2 days unless they are fed Seeds.
In RoG, Redbirds will also appear in Autumn and Spring.
In SW, Parrots, Toucans, and Seagulls replace Redbirds, Crows, and Snowbirds respectively, in that they will drop the same type of feather. A special type of Parrot wearing a pirate hat may appear instead of a regular Parrot, mocking the player. This special Parrot will drop Dubloons instead of Seeds. Parrot and Parrot Pirates will only spawn and land on Jungle Turf, while Toucans will spawn and land on most turfs, similar to Crows. Unlike Snowbirds, Seagulls and Cormorants can be encountered at the Ocean. During Hurricane Season, Seagulls are the only birds that appear, spawning on the ground with no Turf instead of the Ocean.
Unlike any other birds, Seagulls are omnivores. They can eat food left on the ground and Ocean. During Hurricane Season, they can pick Limpet Rocks, too.
Cormorants can be encountered in the Shallow Ocean. They drop Roe instead of Seeds and eat Roe left on Ocean.
In Hamlet DLC, Redbirds, Crows, Parrots, and Toucans are present along with two new kinds of birds: the Kingfisher and the Pigeon. The Kingfisher spawns and lands on most turfs, and unlike other birds, it can eat both Meats and Seeds. In addition, it has a chance to drop Fish instead of Seeds. The Pigeon only spawns and lands in the Pig City, usually in groups. The DLC also introduces a blue variety of the Parrot, which drops Azure Feathers instead of Crimson Feathers.
Don't Starve Together
In Don't Starve Together, Canaries spawn instead of Crows near Friendly Scarecrows. It has a 5% chance of dropping Saffron Feathers when killed. When placed in a Bird Cage in Caves while the Toadstool is alive, the Canary gets poisoned after 6-12 minutes. The player can then take the bird back on the surface and free it. The Canary then drops 5-6 Saffron Feathers and flies away. Dropping a volatile Canary on the ground in the Caves will make it explode and drop 1-2 Saffron Feathers. The explosion can turn a nearby Toadstool into a Misery Toadstool. Murdering a volatile Canary only drops 1 Rot. Volatile Canaries can also be used to craft Napsacks.
Puffins were added in Return of Them and behave identically to other Birds, but will only spawn on the Ocean.
The Gorge
Pigeons are an exclusive bird Mob found in The Gorge event for DST. They can be caught with Bird Traps that can be purchased from Billy for five Old Coins. Alternatively, they can be purchased alive from Billy for three Old Coins. Pigeons can be Murdered to yield one Meat Scrap which can be used in a variety of recipes to satiate The Gnaw.
Usage
Tips
- When bait-trapping Birds for their Feathers, players should make sure to do so on Turf in which specific Birds will spawn, so that they get specific Feathers. Redbirds and Snowbirds spawn most commonly on Grass Turf, while Crows spawn on Rocky Turf and all player-made turfs.
- If one can manage to bring a Damaged Bishop from the Ruins, their ranged blasts are an effective tool to hunt birds without expending resources on Bird Traps or Boomerangs.
- If the player doesn't want any Feathers from the Birds, cooking them alive provides a guaranteed Cooked Morsel.
Trivia
- Before the Naughty and Nice update, the Redbird was called "Red Bird".
- Cormorants were added to SW more than a year after its official completion in the Home Sea Home update, after being tested in a beta branch for several months.
- Canaries were introduced in the Warts and All update.
- Puffins were introduced in the Turn of Tides update.
- Meat such as Morsels previously attracted Crows, however Morsels can no longer be used as a bait in traps and will not attract Crows to their location.
- The Snowbird is referenced as a "Winter Robin" or "Junco" in game files. A Junco is a small North American bird, unrelated to the robin.
- The Snowbird's coloration and crest are reminiscent of the Blue Jay (a member of the crow's family, Corvidae).
- The red Parrot appears to be based on the green-winged macaw.
- The Toucan appears to be based in part on yellow-throated toucans.
- The Redbird is referenced as "Robin" in game files, and uses real-life robin sounds, but the artwork is inspired by a Cardinal.
- Woodie strongly dislikes birds. He says they are evil and should be punished.
- Maxwell mentions that he does not know how the Crows got to the island and does not recognize the Snowbird. He says that the Redbird comes from "the fire lands", possibly meaning that there are other worlds in The Constant.
- Crows have a lower Naughtiness level than the other birds. This might be due to the common belief of Crows representing bad omens.
- In RoG, upon examination of a Redbird, Wilson will say, "Does that mean winter is gone?" instead of "Does that mean spring is coming?".
- Parrot Pirates, upon being caught, will have a name and will occasionally speak from the inventory as red text appearing above the player's head.
- When stunned, Birds can be stolen by Prime Apes and stored in their inventories.
- Real-life canaries are extremely sensitive to oxygen deprivation. In-game Canaries getting poisoned when in caves is a reference to their historical use, warning miners that air was running out by dying.
- Corvus brachyrhynchos, the Crow's name referred to by Wickerbottom, is a scientific name for the real-life American Crow.
- Cardinalis (what Wickerbottom calls the Redbird) is a genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae.
- Pigeons from Hamlet have different sprites than Pigeons from The Gorge.
- A red version of the Blue Parrot is seen in the animated short Lunar Roots, however they cannot be found in game.
Bugs
- If SW is installed, on a RoG world, Redbirds may spawn during Winter. Birds may also drop Seeds during Winter.
- Birds can sometimes "land on" objects and mobs that are otherwise obstacles, such as Campfires, the Pig King or the Lake.
Gallery
 Idle animation of Crows.  Idle animation of Redbirds.  Idle animation of Snowbirds.  Crow pecking the ground.  Crow in flight.  A Crow falling out of the sky.  A stunned Crow.  A frozen Crow.  A Crow sleeping.  A Crow trapped in a Bird Trap.  A caged Crow.  A dead Crow.  Redbird taking to the air.  Redbird in flight.  Two flopping Redbirds.  A sleeping Redbird.  A frozen Redbird.  A dead Redbird.  A caged Redbird.  A trapped Redbird.  A Redbird on fire.  A sleeping Snowbird.  A frozen Snowbird.  A flopping Snowbird.  A dead Snowbird.  A Snowbird on fire.  A Snowbird taking off.  A Snowbird trapped in a Bird Trap.  A caged Snowbird.  A caged Canary.  A caged Canary sleeping.  A Canary exploding.  A dead Canary.  A bugged bird which has durability.  A Crow that landed on the Pig King.  Crows as seen in a promotional image of Don't Starve.  Crows as seen in another promotional image.  A Redbird as seen in a drawing from Art Stream # 19.  Wormwood trying to fit in with Parrots in his animated short Lunar Roots. |
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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| The Forge |                  |
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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Bugs and Worms  |
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The Forge  |
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The Gorge  |
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