Sparrows with back of skull and brain missing (2 Viewers)

I keep finding dead sparrows underneath my birdfeeder.

Each time I notice dead sparrow has the same injury, the back of the skull and the brain is missing . We have cats around but this is not a typical way a cat eats a bird. Can you tell me what is going on here? It seems as if maybe a bird is going it.

The wound is very precise like a beak pecked at it. Would other sparrows kill other sparrows like this or perhaps another type of bird?

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I have been asked the above question and I just don't know. I'm sure someone with knowledge will have the answer. Any ideas / knowledge welcome. I think it is very strange.

Trisha

Hi Trisha. This is an interesting question. Cats or any predatory mammal would normally carry their prey away from the site of capture or kill so as not to draw too much attention to themselves. I doubt very much it is a cat. They normally asphyxiate or shake their victims to death and invariably bite their heads off. It could be the work of a stoat or weasel. These animals will bite into the skulls of prey to kill them off. It's the way they dispatch of rabbits or rats. Sparrowhawks would not peck their victims to death. Their bills are not designed for such a function.
Your killer if it was a bird, could be a magpie or other corvid. I observed recently a magpie coming to my bird feeder and helping itself to a young house sparrow. It grabbed the unfortunate sparrow then proceeded to batter it with its bill,oblivious to the frantic attentions of adult sparrows and other birds which had gathered to see the deadly fracas.
I hope this sheds some light on your inquiry.

Si.

the brain has a lot of good stuff in it compared to some other bits of a body. A few animals will eat that first (or only) if there is enough other food around. Monahawk's thoughts all seem like reasonable suggestions.

A number of years ago I had a male Sparrowhawk which on catching its prey would crunch the skull and just eat the brain and leave the rest of it's prey, the sound of it doing it was terrible.

Chris.

Thank you for getting in touch. This is amazing to me. I've been feeding birds for years. I have loads of rooks nearby - in fact I live near to a rookery and also have crows visit and magpies. I would never imagine another bird just taking the brain out.

It's wild out there in our gardens isn't it!?