Female lovebird died suddenly what happened?

Last night, my female lovebird was making an unusual noise like she was hurt. I went to see what was wrong and I found her on her back inside her tube that she likes to go in. I thought she had been tipped over so I tried to help her get back up. When I picked up the tube, she jumped out onto a perch. She was sitting with her head down and seemed out of it. I put my finger in the cage and she tried to bite it, so I thought she was normal again since she'd always attack our fingers.

I took her out of the cage and held her in a washcloth for awhile. She was calm and peaceful. I put her back in the cage and she went to the bottom (she would spend a lot of her time hanging out on the bottom of the cage trying to build a nest). I also tried whistling at her to see if she'd respond and she tweeted back so I thought she was fine.

Five or ten minutes later, I heard the same unusual noise. I found her at the bottom of the cage on her back again, having a hard time breathing it seemed. It took about a minute until she passed away.

I hadn't seen any unusual signs until just last night. I don't know how old she was when we first got her, but she lived with us for 11 years.

1. Why and How did she get on her back?? Is it normal for lovebirds to die in that position?
2. Why didn't she die when I helped her back up the first time she was on her back?
3. Her death was so sudden, was she just old?
4. She has a mate who was by her side when she died, will he be okay?

Thank you

[ireneo]

I'm sorry your bird died so unexpectedly. Perhaps she had some kind of stroke. From what you've described it sounds like that - the sounds she made, the ataxia, the dull attitude. Without taking her to a vet for a necropsy we'll never know for sure.

The mate will wonder and grieve for awhile. I'm glad the mate got to be with her when she died. They seem to sense and understand what's going on. Crows will watch over a fallen family member for awhile. I raised a pair of chickadees, one of which died after several months due to disease. The sibling was quite upset for days and I had to wait that out till I could release him. But they do recover. Give the remaining bird extra attention in the meantime. I wouldn't introduce a new bird just yet.