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Headless birds (2 Viewers)

Kezza

Well-known member
Whilst out yesterday I came across a dead Blackbird and a House Sparrow (in the same area), each had had their head removed.

The bodies had not been eaten at all and there weren't any scattered feathers. Each bird looked perfect and tidy (not the right word but I can't think how else to describe it) apart from the head, which was missing altogether from the Blackbird and the Sparrow's lay next to the body.

What creature would have done this?
 
They could have been harrassing a large Buteo or Eagle and paid the price. Golden Eagles have been seen grabibing Sharpshin Hawks that were harrassing them while they were flying and then biting off their heads and dropping them.
Bob
 
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Kezza said:
Whilst out yesterday I came across a dead Blackbird and a House Sparrow (in the same area), each had had their head removed.

The bodies had not been eaten at all and there weren't any scattered feathers. Each bird looked perfect and tidy (not the right word but I can't think how else to describe it) apart from the head, which was missing altogether from the Blackbird and the Sparrow's lay next to the body.

What creature would have done this?

Your local moggy could be a prime suspect.
Regards Jon
 
If they are in the same area, could be some kind of stash for a pussy cat.

They kill em usually by taking their heads of then delicately carry them away to eat later. would explain the lack of feathers
normally they find the bowl of felix more appealing when they get home though...

Menzie
 
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Thanks for the replys. We have no eagles here (unfortunately!) but perhaps it could have been another bird? As for the cats, the birds were in the grounds of a school out in the open about 100yrds from each other. Yes I'm sure there are local cats but what puzzled me is how niether was chewed, mangled or anything. I used to own cats and know what a 'cat got' bird usually looks like. This seemed too clean cut, not a feather out of place. I was puzzled as to what could have killed like that and why didn't they eat it.
 
I once watched 2 magpies noisily mobbing a Jay, it seemed injured by the way it was flying and the maggies were relentless in there attack. After a while I checked the area a found the Jay complete but without it's head!
 
Kentbloke said:
I once watched 2 magpies noisily mobbing a Jay, it seemed injured by the way it was flying and the maggies were relentless in there attack. After a while I checked the area a found the Jay complete but without it's head!

Ah now that seems to fit. Thinking about it there were two Rooks around while I was there and I'm sure there's bound to be Magpies too. I've never seen it before. Wonder what the poor things did to deserve that. |=(|
 
A friend found a headless long tailed tit near its nest, it was a youngster and a magpie had been about, my son saw a long brown animal with a moorhen and it was headless, I thought stoat or weasel, but was wondering do rats kill birds?
 
I'd suspect a cat too, our next door's cat killed a mouse last night, and ate the top part of it but left the rest.

Though cats usually leave a load a feathers when making a kill don't they?
 
ceasar said:
They could have been harrassing a large Buteo or Eagle and paid the price. Golden Eagles have been seen grabibing Sharpshin Hawks that were harrassing them while they were flying and then biting off their heads and dropping them.
Bob

Good grief! I know everything is supposed to be bigger in the U.S.A., but a Blackbird and a House Sparrow harrassing Buzzards and Eagles?

Take cover! ;)

BTW, my suggestion for the perpetrator of the headless bird corpses would be nothing more sinister than rats.
 
Anthony Morton said:
BTW, my suggestion for the perpetrator of the headless bird corpses would be nothing more sinister than rats.
My guess as well, seen it often and definitely no feline intervention... tempting as it is to blame moggies ;)
 
mrs fish said:
A friend found a headless long tailed tit near its nest, it was a youngster and a magpie had been about, my son saw a long brown animal with a moorhen and it was headless, I thought stoat or weasel, but was wondering do rats kill birds?

Rats will certainly kill birds taking anything from eggs ,chicks or fully grown birds . I once saw a large brown rat attack a Thrush and before I could interfere the rat had killed the poor bird and dragged it under a bush . I think the poor old moggy may sometimes be blamed for predating birds killed by rats .
 
I opened my front door yesterday morning and found what appeared to be a sparrowhawk,s head just by the door, then, I looked around 1 corner I saw its upper wing and round the other corner was its legs.
 
Thanks everyone for the replys.

I'm not convinced a cat was to blame. Too tidy a kill and also on playground and playing field with short grass, at least 70y from any cover so I would think difficult for a cat to sneak up on.

I think Kentbloke's experience has decided it for me. Probably a Crow/Magpie or similar. Perhaps the unfortunate birds had some food they wanted to steal, who knows. Thanks for the ideas.
 
My parents have a big apple tree in their garden and every year a couple of magpies chase sparrows hiding amongst the branches and rip their heads off?
They don't seem to touch the bodies, just rip the heads off? It's very upsetting, but I guess that's nature? You would think the head would be the most indigestible part of prey, wouldn't you?!
 
Assuming that a corvid did this, I heard about an american kestrel found near a common raven's nest. The body was right underneath the nest and, suprise! It was headless. They found the head a little ways off. The kestrel must have been too near the nest and payed for it. A corvid does seem a likely candidate for the decapitator of those birds.
 
We were once in our yard when a headless kestrel fell out of a tree. I was thinking about it today and found this past. So do people think it was likely a larger hawk that did this?
 
Good grief! I know everything is supposed to be bigger in the U.S.A., but a Blackbird and a House Sparrow harrassing Buzzards and Eagles?

Take cover! ;)

BTW, my suggestion for the perpetrator of the headless bird corpses would be nothing more sinister than rats.
Do you ever get to the countryside, and if so, have you never watched the sky? IDK about the UK or size of birds in the US, but small birds like sparrows, jays, starlings, and especially plovers frequently DO harrass birds of prey, especially during nesting & hatching season. Plovers and jays especially do this, they harrass birds of prey in the air and animals, especially Cats, on the ground. Presumably this behavior distracts the predator from the area of the nest and eggs or hatchlings.
On the other hand I cannot imagine a rat soaring up to behead a bird, or attack one that is on the ground, without mussing it's feathers!
Yes this thread is more than 2 yrs old, but I'M reading it, so perhaps someone else does.
 
Do you ever get to the countryside, and if so, have you never watched the sky? IDK about the UK or size of birds in the US, but small birds like sparrows, jays, starlings, and especially plovers frequently DO harrass birds of prey, especially during nesting & hatching season. Plovers and jays especially do this, they harrass birds of prey in the air and animals, especially Cats, on the ground. Presumably this behavior distracts the predator from the area of the nest and eggs or hatchlings.
On the other hand I cannot imagine a rat soaring up to behead a bird, or attack one that is on the ground, without mussing it's feathers!
Yes this thread is more than 2 yrs old, but I'M reading it, so perhaps someone else does.
The OP is (well, was... 15 years ago) likely referring to a place in the UK, so "blackbird" refers to the Common Blackbird, which is a thrush. For this species as well as the House Sparrow also mentioned by the OP, harassing a buzzard or eagle would be quite unusual. Which is the specific case the other poster was alluding to, not smaller birds attacking larger ones in generals. Blackbirds go after cats and corvids and maybe Sparrowhawks now and then, but I don't think I've ever seen them attacking any raptor bigger than that. In the UK and thereabout, if you see a smaller bird harassing a large hawk or eagle, it'll almost always be a corvid, a lapwing or some other mid-sized bird. Unless you're near a Fieldfare or tern colony, that is.
 
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