Why don't birds sitting on a high voltage wire get a shock?

Electricity travels from a place of high voltage to low voltage, just like water travels naturally from high elevation to low elevation. If the bird sits on a wire and also touches the ground, a path is created that allows electricity to travel through the body and to the place with no voltage. When electricity travels through the body of a bird in this fashion, electrocution takes place  and the bird dies. However, if the bird touches a single wire it do not get a shock because electric current passes through the wire instead of the bird.