It is not a dumb question, though most people do not know how birds do mate. My wife, Kit, and I wrote a book on this, BIRDS DO IT, TOO, which is available in book stores, libraries or from our web site: thebackyardbirdwatcher.com
Basically, to make babies, male and female birds must connect their cloacas in order for sperm to be transferred from the male into the female. The cloacas are located under the tail, at the bottom of the abdomen. The male mounts the female from the rear, she moves her tail out of the way and twists her abdomen sideways, he curves his tail and abdomen downward, and they both invert their cloacas to achieve copulation. It usually happens in a matter of a second or two, and then the two bird resume normal perching positions. Some birds need to copulate only once for each brood of young, but most copulate at least once for each egg laid. Many times they copulate more often than once for each egg laid.