Bird Murder in the Garden
A few days ago I glanced at the bird bath just outside our sun room. An Australian Magpie was busily dismembering a baby bird in full view of the house. There wasn’t much of it left so I couldn’t tell what the magpie had captured for its lunch.
Many species have been breeding in recent weeks so I guess that they are easy pickings. I guess this is the natural state of things – survival and all that. Still – it was a rather grizzly sight. The bird in question then scurried under a nearby bush to “finish off” his lunch out of my view.
I didn’t take a photo – so you’ve been spared the gory details!
Related articles:
- Why do baby birds disappear? An article I wrote recently in response to a reader’s question.
- Babies, the birds and the bees – about birds breeding in our garden.
- Baby Magpie – magpies breeding in out garden.
Erk! At least it was doing something productive with its victim.
A friend told me about a gang of fairy wrens that had caught a silvereye and were holding it by its feathers while giving it a good thumping. Little thugs!
Fairy Wrens are interesting members of the bird kingdom. I must write an article someday about the middle of the night liaisons of the female with the other males in the district. I’d have to be careful with the words I choose or it would easily become R Rated.