This topic has come up often on tweeters. But it's always interesting to
hear the stories again. I witness stuff like this every year. I always see
crows chasing down fledgling and immature starlings. Occasionaly a robin and
house sparrow. Really fun to watch. Crows are EXTREMELY agile and can be
quite fast.



Blake Iverson
Arlington, WA
coopershwk at hotmail.com




>From: "Guttman, Burt" <GuttmanB at evergreen.edu>
>Reply-To: GuttmanB at evergreen.edu
>To: "'m.denny at charter.net'" <m.denny at charter.net>, tweeters
><tweeters at u.washington.edu>
>Subject: Crow eats robin (was: Black-billed Magpie takes out English
>Sparrow)
>Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 09:06:01 -0700
>
>Mike Denny wrote about watching a magpie eat a sparrow. A few years ago, I
>witnessed a similar incident. As I was driving away from the campus, a
>crow
>flew ahead of my car, chased by several calling robins. The crow had
>something in its beak, which it dropped, then picked up again. It soon
>became clear that it was a nestling robin. The crow carried the robin to a
>large horizontal branch of a tree--the robins having given up their chase
>by
>this time--spread it over the branch, and proceeded to peck it open and eat
>its entrails. I watched with a combination of fascination and a growing
>sickness in my gut. I know these things happen. They're a part of nature.
>Crows have to eat, and they're a factor in keeping other bird populations
>in
>equilibrium. I know all that. Still, it was hard to watch, and yet
>fascinating.
>
>Burt Guttman guttmanb at evergreen.edu
>The Evergreen State College
>Olympia, WA 98505 360-456-8447
>Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S.E., Olympia 98503
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Mike Denny [mailto:m.denny at charter.net]
>Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 6:55 PM
>To: tweeters
>Subject: Black-billed Magpie takes out English Sparrow
>
>
>Hello All,
>I just watched an adult Black-billed Magpie picking around under the tray
>feeder when it suddenly rushed a group of California Quail, Mourning Doves,
>Red-winged Blackbirds and several English Sparrows. It caught a female
>English Sparrow by the neck and slammed it onto the ground and while
>perching on it proceeded to hammer on it with its bill. The magpie quickly
>smashed the eyes out and pecked hard on the head as the sparrow flipped
>ands
>flopped about.This corvid ripped and tore at the feathers on the neck and
>belly. As I approached and photographed this event the magpie picked the
>whole sparrow up and carried it back under the grape arbor and eviscerated
>the still twitching sparrow. This was a first for me. To see a magpie grab
>a
>healthy house sparrow, kill and devour it. So it goes.......
>Later Mike
>
>
>********************************************************************
>Mike & MerryLynn Denny
>323 Scenic View Drive
>College Place, WA 99324
>509.529.0080 (h)
>
>IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN BIRDING, YOU HAVEN'T LIVED!
>*******************************************************************
>

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