What Happens to the Birds? Why do They Kill Themselves?

In ‘The Boroughs,’ Sam Cooper finds himself reluctantly moving into the titular retirement community, in which his cul-de-sac happens to be populated with a unique band of personalities. One of them, Art Daniels, is an explorer at heart who is perpetually curious about life’s bigger mysteries. He has a habit of driving out past the town lines into the desert, where he has a dilapidated cabin that he shares with his aerial friend, Brooksy the Crow. Since he’s familiar with the lay of the land, it comes as a surprise to him when a large flock of birds uncharacteristically migrates to a patch of land in the desert near his cabin. Moreover, these birds, all in sync, crash themselves into the ground, willfully hurtling to their deaths like the beginning of a bad omen. Little does Art know, this jarring phenomenon is directly connected to all the other mysterious happenings unraveling in the Boroughs. SPOILERS AHEAD!

The Birds in Town Can Hear the Mother’s Cries For Help

Brooksy is the first bird that hurtles to its death in the desert area on the outskirts of the Boroughs community town. Art, who is around to witness this instance, recognizes it for its eccentricity. Still, it falters in comparison to what follows. An unusually large murder of crows flock together and dive to their deaths at the same time near Art’s desert cabin. Initially, the latter assumes this to be a sign of a higher power. Although he doesn’t quite land on the mark with his assumptions, he isn’t all wrong either. The birds are indeed responding to the unheard voice of a higher being. However, instead of divine intervention, it’s the cries of help of a creature who is being kept as a prisoner inside the Boroughs.

The creature, known as the Mother, is a being who is at the center of every ominous thing happening in town. However, instead of the perpetrator, she is also one of the victims of it. The town is owned by Baines and Annelise Shaw, who have discovered the secret to eternal youth: the constant consumption of the Mother’s blood. Fortunately, for them, they found the creature way back in the late 1940s, when she freshly hatched out of her egg. As a result, they have been able to keep her subjugated as their own personal fountain of youth. However, there is a catch to the creature’s powers.

In order to keep Mother powerful and her blood anti-aging, the Shaws need to feed her human cerebral fluid. This is why they built the Boroughs retirement town, so that they can prey on the elderly as a readily available supply of this fluid. At night, while the residents are sleeping, the Mother’s children, creatures who more closely resemble monsters, are sent out to the homes to feed on the unwitting humans. Afterward, the children return to their mother, who has recently fallen sick, to feed her the fluid. However, despite being kept fed, the latter and her kids aren’t willing participants in this scheme. In fact, she’s actually a prisoner under the Shaws’ lock-and-key.

As a result, once her health begins to dwindle, the Mother cries out for help, hoping that someone would come and rescue her from her jailor’s tyrannical imprisonment. Yet, in her imprisoned state, she can’t actually talk to the outside world directly. Instead, she uses her psychic powers to try to reach out to the residents outside the laboratory. However, she can only communicate with certain people, mostly those with some brain-related impairment. Unfortunately for her, this also makes them less likely to actually be able to help her out. Even so, she continues crying out for help, and her cries can also be heard by birds en masse. As a result, the birds Art witnesses hurtling to their death are the same ones who have been driven mad by hearing the Mother’s cries. Their decision to crash on the land above the Cave of Wonders signifies the creatures’ desire to meet their demise at the same place.

Read More: What is Mother? Why Does It Look Human? The Creature in The Boroughs Explained