Hello folks
A little while ago there was a commotion outside my window and I was horrified to see a pair of jackdaws fighting over the corpse of a dead sparrow. I chased them off but they took the poor sparrow with them. Is it common for jackdaws to kill adult birds or is it more likely that the sparrow was already dead or injured and they just happened to find it? I've never seen a bird killed in my garden before and it's left me shaken, particularly as sparrows are one of my favourite birds (jackdaws now join my least favourites - those and starlings).
thanks
Fergus
Hi Fergus
Any corvid is capable of offing a sparrow sized bird if the opportunity presents itself. If your garden sparrow was a genuine kill then it was possibly sick or somehow disabled before it bought it.
Equally all corvids are eager scavengers and there is every possibility that the deceased sparrow was collected as carrion. This would be more likely in the case of a Jackdaw than it going to the effort of catching and despatching a healthy adult bird.
JBNTS
Every day a little more irate about bird of prey persecution, and I have a cat - Got a problem with that?
That isn't a great thing to witness, and I would have been horrified. Sparrows are my all time favourite bird.
I have sparrows and other small birds galore, and also a lot of jackdaws. They all seem to rub along together without any obvious aggression or problems. They will even share a feeder.
Cheers, Linda.
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We have lots of visiting jackdaws and none take any notice of other birds. If there are alternative sources of food, they're unlikely to bother with the hassle of killing another healthy bird. I would guess that the sparrow maybe hit the window and died, or came a cropper some other way, and the jackdaws took advantage.
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
Thanks for your answers folks. I agree that the sparrow was probably already dead or injured in some way and the jackdaws quickly dispatched it. There wasn't a shortage of food so I can't see why they would attack a healthy bird, and they usually get on perfectly fine with the other birds that visit my garden. It wasn't a nice thing to witness all the same and I hope I don't get a repeat performance.
Thanks again
I am overrun with Jackdaws , Robns , finches and most other small birds have vacated my garden .
Seems a good year for jackdaws........I had 11 in the apple tree yesterday!