The gentle Collard Dove (or not)
Most people think Collard Doves are gentle birds, but anyome who's observed them for any length of time knows different. Collard Doves are no different to any other Bird; they'll do whatever is necessary to survive. So why am I posting this? Well because one of them just surprised even me. Bear in mind that I've been watching my garden for years, and for at least 6 hours a day, so I don't get surprised too often lately.
I was upstairs and could hear a funny squeaking noise coming from the garden. I knew it wasn't a Starling as they are always beating one another up, and I'm used to that sound, but it sounded a bit different to the noise that the House Sparrows make when squabbling. So I went downstairs to see what it was, oh, and I knew it wasn't a Sparrowhawk as I could hear all of the other birds still in the garden.
For those that don't know, I hang home made trays in the trees for the Collys and Sparrows (which the Pigeons worked out long ago). Usually Sparrows feed from these trays alongside the Collard Doves, and sometimes the Starlings. The Sparrows also have 2 normal seed feeders that they empty before the afternoon. Anyway my garden has gone mad recently and sharing is a thing of the past, now it seems it's a case of get to the food or die trying.
OK, so you get the idea, so back to what surprised me:
At the side of one of the trays was a Collard Dove, in it's mouth was the wing of a Sparrow. The Sparrow was dangling from the Colly's beak while screeching and trying to fly away (not easy when one of your wings is clamped in another bird's beak). The Sparrow continued to struggle, and every now and then the Colly gave it a shake from side to side. This went on for about 30 seconds
until the Colly ate the Sparrow; no it didn't, just kidding.|=)| The Sparrow eventually got free, or was released, and flew away unharmed. So I'm guessing that all deals are off as far as sharing is concerned.
When you get the chance, watch your gardens as much as possible, I think that this harsh weather will provide some very interesting behaviour. Oh, and it really is costing me more than I can afford to feed the birds ATM, maybe an average of the numbers over the last few days will help explain why:
- 60+ Feral Pigeons (yes I know, that's 20 more than usual)
- 24+ Collard Doves
- 30+ Starlings
- 30+ House Sparrows
- 10+ Chaffinches
- 6 Jays
- 3 Carrion Crows
- 3 Magpies
- 5+ Great Tits
- 4+ Blue Tits
- 2 Robins (definitely different birds as seen within a few feet of each other, which is odd)
- 5+ Squirrels
If you think that's not a lot of Wildlife; all of the above are in a 20 foot square garden with 2 trees taking up most of the space.