Lydia Gaebe asked,

> The other day my step-brother
> and his wife observed a hawk of some kind catch a SCRUB JAY and begin eating
> it. Another scrub jay began fussing and squawking and dive bombing the
> hawk. Eventually the hawk gave up the bird it was eating.
>
> Then the other scrub jay began EATING the jay the hawk had killed!
>
> Just how common is cannibalism among corvids?

This is largely a question of perception. We humans see the live jay
eating a dead jay as cannibalism, because we can see that they're the same
species. The jays don't see the world that way. When jays are jumping
around and doing jaylike things, they perceive one another as jays, and
they engage in mutual jaylike behaviors. But once the jay is just a piece
of meat lying on the ground, the live jay gets no clues from it indicating
it should be treated differently from any other piece of meat lying on the
ground. Same kind of change can occur with gulls and probably other
species. If a young gull is alive and healthy, it opens its mouth when it
sees its parents and it engages in feeding behavior, with the parents
supplying as much food as it needs. But if dies, it no longer engages in
the right behavior and in the eyes of its parents it changes from beloved
offspring into hunk of meat that will make a good meal.

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 360-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 360-866-6794

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