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my poor little junco

17 years ago

This morning when I woke up, I opened the kitchen curtains and mini-blinds. Out in the back yard very close to the bird feeder was nothing but feathers. Lots of white ones and what appeared to be the entire back of the junco. Gray feathers, all intact, but when I went out to check it, there was nothing underneath those feathers, just the back part of the bird. My guess is a neighborhood cat got it. There are a few cats in the area and I've noticed one that will sit very close to the feeder just waiting for a freshly caught meal. It must have happened late yesterday everning or early this morning. It made me sick!! People have to keep their dogs on a leash, but cats can roam anywhere and everywhere!! I'm not taking sides with dogs or cats, as I do not have nor do I want any, but seeing what was left over of that poor bird made me want to strangle someone's cat!!

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Comments (4)

hawkeye_wx
17 years ago
I am a cat person and I have always found it frustrating that people are allowed to let their cats roam the neighborhood. I used to have one but she was strictly a house cat with an occasional supervised backyard getaway. Fortunately, we only get a rare visit from a roaming cat, so our feeder birds are pretty safe. I'd be pissed if a neighbor's cat killed birds in my yard.
donnas_gw
Original Author
17 years ago
hawkeye, I don't think the people who have these cats even know what spaying and neutering is, or they don't want to spend the money to have it done.

This morning I noticed a sparrow flying off with some of the white feathers in it's mouth. I guess to make a nest. It even looks like part of the back feathers that were intact have been picked apart. Guess before long there won't be a mess from this one, as all the "remains" will be gone. Now, I've also heard that English house sparrows are really aggressive and can kill other birds. Would one of these birds have killed this little junco?
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dzyg
17 years ago
donnas, I totally agree with you on outdoor cats, cannot stand to see them in my yard. However what you described kinda sounds like a hawk kill. They defeather the bird before eating. We find feather piles around quite often and can always tell what kind of bird was eaten by the hawk. Mostly around here it is mourning doves and young robins. We have watched a hawk pull the feathers off its catch, they are quite efficient at doing this.

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donnas_gw
Original Author
17 years ago
Donna, I thought of taking a picture yesterday to post on here, but decided not to. As of now, there is not a single feather left on the ground. All have been taken away by these sparrows. I can't say I've actually seen a hawk in the area, but that doesn't mean one wasn't in my back yard to kill this poor little bird. I had posted a couple weeks back wanting to know what those little gray birds were, as they have become my favorite ones among all the others that visit.

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