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Song Thrush Dropping Snails To Break Them Open? (1 Viewer)

Was out on my bike on the Leeds Liverpool canal today and came across this chap tucking into a nice bit of escargot ;-)

I didn't see the bird drop the snail, but from the photos you can clearly see the shell and the snail separated from it.

There are seldom snails along the path except for at nighttime and there were no other snails for my whole 5 mile ride. And there was no sticky trail either so I am only guessing that the Song Thrush dropped the snail to crack the shell and eat it - I know I could be very wrong about that.

So is this behaviour known at all?

Thank you :)
 

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No. They smash them against a rock (concrete, tarmac, anything will do!) until the juicy bits come free. Great in my garden, helping to keep the snail population down!
 
As Jon says they hold the snail shell in their beak and then turn their head and thwack the snail down onto their chosen anvil. When we buried the dog in the copse at the bottom of the garden I put a big stone slab on top to stop the badgers digging him up. Now it's covered in bits of snail shells, and I can hear the twacking most days. As has also been said, another reason not to use slug pellets.
Mick
 
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