Garden

[drizzellla]

This afternoon a bunch of birds ganged up on a bird in our backyard. They make lots of noise while they were doing it. My husband said he thought the bird that was being attacked was young. After the attack my husband checked on the bird and it was still breathing. Later when he checked the bird was dead.

I looked up why birds would attack another bird and saw this - "Birds attack other birds primarily due to competition for mates and territory, defense against predators, and protection of offspring."

Since my husband thought the bird was young, I really don't think any of those reasons applied.There is plenty of bird food in our backyard. So there are numerous different types of birds all the time. And they seem to get along. They are all busy eating.

We have had birds attacked before but it was hawks, a fox and cats never other birds before - that we know of. Why would birds do it?

[sabatini]

@drizzellla, would you happen to know what kind of birds did the attacking? Were they a different type than the victim?

I know that grackles are attackers, & I even saw one grab a baby sparrow and stride around with it clutched in his claw, until he finally bit its head off. 

I can't stand grackles, though I get a bang out of some of their crazy antics and referee whistlings.

They've been coined 'devil birds'.

However, it's true that there are many reasons that birds attack others. One is if the victim bird is sickly.

Sick birds will often pretend they're OK, and perch while hanging on to dear life, until they fall off, dead. But better that than to be subjected to the pecking order.

[drizzellla]

@sabatini I did not see or hear the attack. I was told about it after it happened. My son heard it and told me.

He has been out since it happened. I will quiz him when he gets home.

[sabatini]

OK, @drizzellla. I'm interested to hear what he says.

[drizzellla]

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@sabatini wrote:

OK, @drizzellla. I'm interested to hear what he says.

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I am too

He went out to dinner with friends last night and then went to a program in Wind Gap, PA. It is at least an hour and a half away. He got home at 3:30 AM. Woke up and went to his friend's house for a cook out.

Not sure when he will be flying through our house again but I am going to ask him, eventually.

[sabatini]

@drizzellla, no worries. He sounds like my boys!

LOL, like mercury, nearly impossible to catch hold of. 

[drizzellla]

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@sabatini wrote:

@drizzellla, no worries. He sounds like my boys!

LOL, like mercury, nearly impossible to catch hold of. 

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Well, this is what we think happened.

My son said he isn't sure what kind of birds were attacking the one bird. He said he wanted to see the birds. He would know it when he saw it.

Of course our entire dinner was cooked on our outside grill, so no birds were in the backyard.

But my husband saw the injured bird. He was sure it was a young Starling. And Starlings travel in large groups and tend to take over the birdfeeders. So we are thinking it was Starlings that attacked the young bird. Because my son said it was a group of birds.

Our birdfeeeder attracts sparrows, doves, cardinals, finches and woodpeckers. And none of those birds travel in large groups.

So we suspect - Starlings.

PS - Previously we had always referred to Starlings as "Bully Birds". Because they are.

[gardenman]

Birds can be vicious. Sparrows were often one of the worst offenders here. Two would squabble, then more would join in, and before long, one of them would be dead. 

Nature is often a violent and cruel place. A lot of people have this benign view of nature being peaceful and lovely with no issues, but in reality, it's more of a never-ending warzone. Pretty much everything is trying to kill pretty much everything else. Not always for food or any known reason. Often, the killing seems random. Very similar to human nature.

[drizzellla]

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@gardenman wrote:

Birds can be vicious. Sparrows were often one of the worst offenders here. Two would squabble, then more would join in, and before long, one of them would be dead. 

Nature is often a violent and cruel place. A lot of people have this benign view of nature being peaceful and lovely with no issues, but in reality, it's more of a never-ending warzone. Pretty much everything is trying to kill pretty much everything else. Not always for food or any known reason. Often, the killing seems random. Very similar to human nature.

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@gardenman You got that right. The sparrows can cause quite a commotion. We have a bird house on a tree. And good affordable housing is hard to find. So on occasion you will find nest material on the ground and lots of noisy comments being exchanged.

And I have seen a bluebird pecking at another bird that was laying on the ground (dead? probably). Can't help but wonder if the blue bird caused the bird to be lying on the ground.

And often have seen several crows attacking a hawk. But I am sure the hawk caused trouble as it was looking for food. We even had a dead hawk on our front lawn once.

We put out lots of birdseed daily. And want every critter to come and eat. And go away fat and happy. Things don't always happen the way you want.

[sabatini]

@drizzellla, thanks for the update, & @gardenman, you're right about nature. Kill or be killed.

Watching birds and learning about their respective habits is so fascinating, isn't it?

My mom was a bird lover, always fed them, & I can remember her shooing away the starlings when they'd descend on her feeder. If she didn't like them, then neither did I. Plus, they looked so ordinary.

Maybe you both already know about the incredible starling murmurations, but I only became aware of them about 15 years ago. Wow, just wow!

They truly filled with me with a deep, spiritual awe & I marveled at another one of God's creations.

Starlings aren't so ordinary after all! 

IMO, this is the best video of a murmuration, or perhaps it's just the music which makes it more special to me.

I hope the video won't be removed.