Daz and birds .......

[Crewella]

Daz is an ex-stray late-neutered tom cat and the only one of mine that regularly hunts and catches things. He eats everything he catches, thankfully, and does share with the rest of the gang but at this time of year he goes into overdrive and as we live in a rural area surrounded by fields there's plenty to keep him occupied. In the last week I've seen him with rats, glis glis, squirrels and bunnies, and one woodpigeon.

I've always been grateful that he rarely seems to bother with birds except the odd pigeon or young pheasant, I'm guessing there's not enough meat on them to make it worth his while, and he even stopped catching shrews when he discovered they didn't taste good not long after we moved here. I'm also grateful to him for keeping the rodent population under control. For this reason I've never tried to curtail his hunting, bar keeping him in at night to at least give the wildlife a break at dawn and for his own safety as we're near a busy road and I don't want him getting used to it when it's quiet.

But yesterday I was horrified when he brought home a flipping sparrow hawk! Such a beautiful bird, I was so upset, but I did notice that he made no attempt to eat it, and just left it by the door. That is most unusual - even when he's full he takes his catches to one of several 'stashes' and at least eats the head, so I'm wondering (and hoping, to be honest) that he just found it already dead. I've had a good look at the bird and there doesn't seem to be a mark on it and the feathers lie smoothly. Does anyone think that's likely?

[alanc]

About 5 years ago, Badger or Tilly (I don't know who was the culprit and both were quite capable of the deed) brought a sparrowhawk in and dumped it on one of their beds. It was definitely dead when I found it when I came home from work. Due to the lack of damage (both to it and the house), I assume it was dead when brought in. I suspect it had killed itself by flying into a window but I'm not entirely sure. I believe that this can happen when they are chasing prey. That Badger and Tilly had not eaten it was not unusual, they seldom ate their bird prey. The larger ones usually came in alive so I managed to rescue at least 50% of them. Like you I also keep Tilly (and Badger when he was alive) in at night mainly to give the wildlife a break (and I must admit as I am not keen on coming down to mouse guts on the floor in the morning). At a guess, I would say there is about a 75% chance that Daz found the sparrowhawk dead and just brought it in.

[Crewella]

Thank you, that was a great comfort!

[MarkB]

I can't add much except to humiliate myself

In the 90s, I had a flat overlooking the canal in Hackney. I had a turret window and people used to joke and call me the bird man, as when I got home from work around 4.45pm, there would be a collection of Swans, Ducks, Coots (or Moorhens) waiting for their feed. I also used to feed the Sparrows etc. One day I was feeding the small birds from the window when something awful happened. A while later, my upstairs neighbour came home from work and I told her that I was feeding the sparrows, when an owl swooped down, grabbed one of the sparrows, landed on a factory roof opposite and ripped the sparrow apart and ate it. She said "Ah, that Owl would have been a Sparrowhawk, doing what Sparrowhawks do"

Anyway, I can't feel much sympathy for them as they are also predators.

[Crewella]

Eeeeek - not quite the peaceful after-work wind-down you had envisaged! It's a good point, though. There are probably more sparrowhawks than sparrows around these days.

[alanc]

I also consoled myself that if Badger or Tilly did kill the sparrowhawk, they probably saved more small birds than they kill! I believe sparrowhawks can kill two small birds a day, whilst Badger and Tilly only ever managed one a week between them. (As Tilly is getting older now I am glad her depredations among the birdlife have gone down to one every other month.)

[bobbys girl]

To answer the first part, our house is set up so that if you are in the back garden, you can look through the kitchen window, down the hall and out through a window in the front door. To a bird it must look like a gap it the trees and we have had several casualties hit the window trying to fly through the house. Sometimes they are just stunned and there is a race to get to them before the cats do (we have an old bird cage that doubles as a recovery room). But we have found a number of birds dead without a mark on them - probably a broken neck.

As for the Sparrow Hawk, we once had one take a bird off the bird table, if you had blinked you would have missed it, woosh. But I would rather that happen than what happened last week. We have a bird box with a camera and this year a Great **** family were raised there. I filmed some of them off the TV (bit shaky, but cute) I was going to post the films but haven't the heart to now. One evening they were there, chirping and fluttering. I opened the curtains the following morning to a scene of carnage. A newly-fledged family of Jackdaws (in the same, damn tree) had picked off every baby as it left the nest. They all flew off, some with babies in their rotten beaks. At least the Sparrow Hawk (and the cats ) only take one at a time.

The hunters in our family are both 'disabled'. Purdy has sight in only one eye and Bob has three legs! Doesn't stop the little beggers!

[bobbys girl]

I got moderated! I didn't write 'Great ****'. But I think you know the bird I meant, they come in other types, Blue, Coal, Long-tailed .....

[alanc]

Oh dear, I'm always afraid that when I write about my Maine <you know what> it will get censored. Fortunately moderators on here know I am talking about the worlds most beautiful cat and not insulting people!

[bobbys girl]

Bit off topic - sorry Helen - but following on from what I said earlier. This morning I was struggling with the duvet (ever tried changing a duvet cover when you have a frozen shoulder!) and OH was cutting the front lawn (very domestic) He called to me (all windows wide open) there was a fledgling Jackdaw in the ditch. Must have fallen out of the nest. It could flutter but not fly and the cats were homing in on it. Well what COULD I do?

Long story short it is now in the recovery room (cage) in the tea house - cool but cat proof. I've been feeding it Felix and prawns. So in the space of a couple of hours I have gone from cursing them to trying to save one. Funny old world isn't it?

[Crewella]

I must say you do paint a picture of domestic bliss, in spite of the frozen shoulder (ouch!).

Good luck with the mummy bird duties! If you're not careful the rest of the brood will get to hear of the menu and start queuing at the door!