On my recent trip to the Malheur area, I saw something new.

Coming around a bend, I came upon a raven lifting off the
ever-present roadside barbed-wire fence, surrounded by a few
dozen Brewer's blackbirds.

In its bill was a still-flapping blackbird! I slammed on the
brakes and saw it fly away with it. Even more interesting, apparently
the blackbird was crushed to death quite quickly, as the raven
transferred it to its feet.

I vaguely remember a short thread about crows using their feet
to carry things recently in tweeters.

I know, of course, that predation by ravens isn't uncommon,
but taking a blackbird out of a flock perched on a fenceline?

A first for me. How many tweets have observed raven predation?

I have seen a crow kill a starling before, one of a bunch that
were obnoxiously harrassing it (they were all perched on a
building). But it ignored it, didn't eat it.

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>