Veronica, that must have been an incredible sight. I found this on the
Cornell Ornithology site (http://www.birds.cornell.edu)
Crows are predators and scavengers, and will eat anything they can subdue.
That said, the bulk of their diet consists of waste grain in winter, and
earthworms and other terrestrial invertebrates in the spring and summer.
Crows will eat eggs and nestlings of songbirds. Removal of crows does NOT
increase nest success or survival of the bird to be protected. Nearly
always some other predator steps up to eat the same number of eggs and
young birds, or they die for other reasons.
On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 9:39 AM, ChuckVeronica Ratliff <
chuckveronicaratliff@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Our neighbor has an apple tree near our driveway and we get to watch
different birds eat from the apples that fall on the ground. This morning
while getting ready for work, I happened to look out the window and saw a
Crow fly down from the apple tree and kill a small bird. It appeared to be
a Tufted Titmouse but I can't be sure of that. The Crow used it's beak to
peck at the bird until it was lifeless and then took it in its beak and
flew away. I have never seen a Crow do this before! Is this a normal
thing for them to do during nesting season?
Veronica Ratliff
Oakwood, VA
