In a lot of the stories we've read--Hans the Hedgehog comes to mind--a character is transformed until he completes a task, be it finding someone to love him in his hideous form or in the case of The Juniper Tree, vanquishing his evil step-mother. I view the brother's transformation as a consequence of his father marrying the wrong type of woman. This needs to be put right before their family life can continue as normal.
Thus I do not think the brother ever truly dies. The bird is a vehicle of escape, one of flight. The story reminds me in a way of Where The Wild Things Are in that the boy has to escape a family situation he finds disagreeable. His step-mother is cruel to him so he wishes to turn to a bird and get away. In a fairy tale land, he can do so. In a fairy tale land, his father finally sees how awful his new wife is and she gets her comeuppance by having a rock dropped on her head.
In that sense, to me the boy is all human. The bird transformation is merely metaphoric. He can only maintain his normal form when his family situation has become normal and stable.
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