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I think I have said before that the English language is a thief of epic proportions, stealing words and spare grammar from other languages continuously. Well that holds true here as this idiom is of German origin. Not truly shocking considering that English has Germanic roots, but amusing just the same.

The idea is that if you are crazy, you are thought to have a bird nesting where your brain should be. Thus, “she has a bird”. Of course this has evolved in English usage over time to also mean having a over the top (crazy) reaction about an event. “Mom will have a bird when she finds out!”