Yesterday I found a dead blue tit near our feeder.
2 other blue tits kept flying down to it and pecking it and it looked as if they may have been trying to move it. It was close to the edge of a cover and when I moved it underneath they were pacified ,it looks as if the pair are trying to nest close by so perhapes they thought a dead bird could attract cats? Hence to attempts to move it?
Hello Petrirosso,
I think it's more likely that although the bird was dead, the resident Blue Tits were still responding to the visual stimuli of its plumage, and treating it as a rival. Quite a bit of work's been done with stuffed birds, Robin springs instantly to mind, in which the territory holders would attack the mounted specimen in an attempt to drive it away. Small birds will mob a stuffed owl, and species such as Reed Warbler respond to stuffed Cuckoos.
Hope this helps,
MC