It's a Bird Eat Bird World Out There

            Whoever came up with the phrase, It’s a dog eat dog world out there, doesn’t know jack about dogs.  Sure, we’ve all seen dogs get scrappy.  They snarl and show their teeth, they’ll even bite and tousle with a new alpha dog that appears on the scene.  But the fighting is all about order in the end.  Once they have established their place in the little dog society of the moment (dog park, neighborhood turf, etc.) then the pooches cooperate and play accordingly.  Dogs don’t eat dogs.  If they ever have, it’s about as common as human cannibalism.  So sure there may be a handful of Hannibal Hounds out there, and one or two Jeffrey Dahmer-Doodles, but it is not the norm.  Let me repeat, dogs don’t eat dogs.

            BUT, have you ever noticed the birds?  And I don’t mean their elegant flight or beautiful song.  These lovely feathered animals are BEASTS!  I’m no expert - I don’t carry a Life List Journal, wear an Audubon badge or have an eighteen inch camera lens hanging around my neck, but I do notice things.  On my forest walks I have heard the desperate screeching of a bird defending its young, and look up to see a Jay or Crow feasting on the fledglings of the panicked parent.

            Of course we all know there are birds of prey.  We have owls that eat all sorts of nocturnal animals, and regal eagles that feed themselves and their young upon gilled, four-footed and even winged creatures. Hawks, osprey and vultures are well-known meat eaters that are known to snack on the feathered meat of birds among other animals.

            There are some less obvious but common bird-on-bird predators such as the crow, jay and starling.  Keep an eye on your backyard wildlife in the spring and you are likely to witness a few battles with smaller birds trying to protect their homes from these nest-raiders.  But as I began to look deeper into this avian cannibalism I was surprised at how few birds are completely innocent of this behavior.

            Even one of my favorite birds, the beautiful red-winged black bird will eat eggs from competing wren’s nests in order to keep control over territory.  And the wrens do it right back.  Sweet little brown sparrows will drag eggs and baby-birds out of others’ nests in order to take over the home of another bird family.

            This carnage is not limited to ordinary birds, either.  The beloved Road Runner (remember the cartoons?)  will lurk near a smaller birds’ nest and leap up for the kill when the resident returns to its home.  The Australian kookaburra that we have all sang about as children will snatch a bird and bash it against a rock or other hard surface before consuming it for dinner.  Think about that next time you’re singing the happy song to a child “Laugh, Kookaburra!”

     Did you know that pelicans have been known to gobble up live birds when there isn’t enough fish to go around?  And since the big clumsy bird can’t chew, the young duck or pigeon experiences a slow and acidic death in its over-sized gullet.

            Spotted Woodpeckers?  Yep.  Warblers?  Uh-huh.  But my favorite by far is the Loggerhead Shrike.  This diminutive fellow eats all sorts of small animals and bugs (and yes, birds) and has an ingenious process for killing and storing its prey for later.  This spritely little bird impales its meal on thorns, twigs and even barbed wire.  And apparently the “pecking order” for this species is decided by who has the most dead bodies decorating its nesting tree.  (see below)

            I love figures of speech as much as the next person, but get it right people!  If this were a dog-eat-dog world, we would be living in peace and harmony with everyone having a firm place in the hierarchy of society.  When life gets tough and you’re in a cut-throat, competitive situation, this is definitely a Bird-Eat-Bird Kind of World.

           

The Loggerhead Shrike saving some leftovers for later.