Killing a mate after 6 years together?

[StormyMom]

Has anyone ever heard of this? Ive had my lovies together for 6 years. Hardly EVER saw them fight. I have an aviary outside that they played in with other birds, and when its too hot/cold or storming i bring them all in to sleep. Well i come home to find my female killed my male. And im not talking a peaceful death, she literally ripped his face off...he had nothing left. Id post pics but its pretty graphic.
Ive never had any bird to this to another bird, especially lovebirds. And ive owned birds for over 20 years. She was not nesting, they didnt have any eggs, not other birds in their cage..just the 2 of them. Any idea what could have happened?

[linda040899]

If your pair was outside, I suspect that the culprit is NOT the mate. I've had lovebirds kill other lovebirds and what you normally find is a corpse that has the back of the head/neck area ripped open and bloody. You can usually find blood on the beak of the offender. What this sounds like is that something got into the cage and killed the lovebird you found dead. Whatever it was is canabalistic, as I've not seen lovebirds eat the remains of deceased lovebirds.

Depending on bar spacing, I've seen mice and even small rats squeeze through 1/2" hardware cloth. I've actually witnessed one go from inside to outside. I was shocked!

I'm very sorry for your loss! This is a hard way to lose a beloved lovie!