[va-richmond-general] Re: Strange bird behavior

Hi Al!
   
  Members of the Corvid family...you know how aggressive and pushy they can be 
at times.  I think you're right on the mark with regard to it chasing off a 
sick or "loner" bird.  Poor thing, all by itself without the protection of 
others of its own kind!
   
  IE Ries

Al & Linda Warfield <warfield101@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
          Yesterday I saw something from our kitchen window that was very 
strange to me. There was a small dark bird eating sunflower seeds at a hopper 
feeder. It's rump was pointed at me so it was hard to tell what it was. I was 
just going to get my binocs for a better look when a Blue Jay came out of who 
knows where and grabbed the small bird in its beak, then carried it to the deck 
rail about 8 feet away. Feathers were flying everywhere. But the jay then 
dropped the bird and it flew up into a nearby tree. Later in the day I was 
walking on our walkway and the same little bird flew out from where it was 
perched in the shelter of the house and landed in a tree. It looked like a 
female goldfinch, with dark greenish feathers and wing bars, very wet due to 
the rain, and pretty scruffy. We think maybe the bird is not well - it was 
eating sunflower seeds all by itself - there were no other goldfinches around. 
I have seen them eat sunflower seeds before even when thistle was
 available at this time of year, and it was available yesterday. Anyway, maybe 
someone out there can explain that behavior by the jay. I have not observed 
that before. Could it be some form of pecking order, or maybe the jay perceived 
that the goldfinch was not doing well and tried to move it out of the way? I'm 
grabbing at straws here.
   
  Al Warfield



"Hope is the thing with feathers 
  That perches in the soul 
  And sings the tune without the words 
  And never stops at all." 
  --Emily Dickenson 
   
  Mercy for birds, wild birds
  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-vulture-culling
   
  Justice for unjust killing of wildlife
  
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/censure-and-sanction-tripp-isenhour-for-killing-of-red-shouldered-hawk
   
  The Parakeet Perch - Budgie community
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheParakeetPerch/

       
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