Subject: [Tweeters] A gull that bit off more than he
Date: Oct 4 12:52:12 2006
From: James West - jameswest at earthlink.net


I watched a Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) do this once in Britain -- barely cleared a hedge, crashed onto the road I was driving along, and was dead by the time I got out and picked it up. Its throat was packed with bite-size pieces of kale, spilling out at the gape, and when I cut open its crop, the contents made a 2"-deep pile on a dinner-plate! I also saw a British paper a few years back about moles caught by (mostly Herring) Gulls in coastal grasslands as a cause of mortality in gulls -- the moles immediately start digging their way out! The behaviors that make a climax species have a down-side?!

James West

----- Original Message -----
From: Wayne C. Weber
To: TWEETERS
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2006 9:25 AM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] A gull that bit off more than he couldchew...errr...swallow


Tweeters,

This reminds me of an event that occurred many years ago,
when Wayne Campbell was working at the zoology museum at
the University of BC, and I was a graduate student there.
Someone brought in a juvenile Glaucous-winged Gull
which had been flying over one of the parking lots at UBC,
and literally dropped out of the sky, stone-dead, into the ground.
After a few minutes of examination, it was discovered that the bird's
throat was stuffed chock-full of bread. The greedy gull had apparently
ingested so much bread so fast that it choked to death!

Eating can be hazardous to your health....


Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net



----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Mack" <kmack at paws.org>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2006 5:23 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] A gull that bit off more than he
couldchew...errr...swallow


Hi Tweets,

I'm sure we've all seen birds swallowing prey that seemed far too large for
them to actually swallow. Whenever I see a gull trying to choke down a sea
star, I always wonder how they keep from choking. Well...apparently they
don't always keep from choking. On Sunday I discovered the carcass of an
immature gull at Ebey's Landing on Whidbey Island. A very large fish was
lodged securily in his throat. For photos visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96123763 at N00/

Anyone else ever come across something similar?

Kevin Mack
Edmonds, WA


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