I recently reported on the deaths of two of the park birds, a magpie and a cockatoo. I always keep an open mind as to the probable cause when the manner of death is uncertain but I have my suspicions. Another bird has had a close escape. Occasionally I feed the crested pigeons. I used to give them leftover canary seed so they are regular visitors. Now there is no longer a canary so I am gradually phasing out their seed because to stop abruptly would be incredibly unfair. Plus, it is winter and seed is scarce. I took a photo of one of my favourite pigeons on its most recent visit.

Something has had a go at it. Crested pigeons, cockatoos and magpies all have one thing in common. They are ground foraging birds. If I see another dead bird, I will borrow a cat trap. Having said that, my dogs are pure evil when it comes to birds (and bees) but their technique to bark birds to death is thankfully rather inept. The bees are not so lucky.

Speaking of inept, I have upgraded photography software. It seemed like a good idea at the time but it is not very intuitive so I am keeping a low profile.

Stay well, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

32 thoughts on “Three is A Trend”

  1. Ah, the photo is a beauty, Tracy, but that was the first thing I noticed about the bird–his poor little head. ‘Bark birds to death’ made me laugh. The cats used to ‘play to death’ with the lizards. Since I brought them inside, the lizard population has exploded. The cats need to lay off the birds, though. Good luck with the trap.

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  6. I hope you have some success in finding out who is killing the birds. Question is will it be a feral cat or a roaming pet.
    Our cats are all indoor cats but previous ones we had who were only kept in at night did their fair share of damage. That’s the reason for the change when we got Polly.

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    1. We had some feral cats here about 10 years ago, Vanda. We trapped some of them. Man, they were wild! However, we didn’t get rid of them all. I haven’t seen cats at the park but it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. I suspect the birds are quite hungry at the moment and so they are not quite as alert as they otherwise would be.
      I do like cats but if owners are not exposed to the devastation they cause, some can pretend it doesn’t happen, but others like you do their best to ensure that they don’t cause harm.

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  7. Your photography is always wonderful to view and as Margaret mentioned I do hope all is ok with you both. The dove’s head reminds me of the pecking order between chickens.

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  8. Have you thought about putting out one of those security cameras or wildlife cameras to see what’s up. Some of them are fairly cheap know. I’ve been contemplating putting one in the yard here too.

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    1. We have a night vision camera which we have put out the back. So far nothing to see but possums and rats. Ewww. During the day, we have come across a couple of our neighbours’ cats lurking under our bushes out the front. One of those cats is more hopeful than anything else. The other looks a little more sinister and moves like a practised hunter. That neighbour has an open compost pile much favoured by the rodents. You would think the rats would be enough to satisfy it! I’ve seen another big cat down the street closer to the park in the area where we’ve found the dead birds so that cat would have to be a likely suspect. Unfortunately, I can’t put traps out beyond my property.

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  10. Poor little thing… It sounds like the culprit is probably a cat, but maybe a larger bird could also be the problem. I’m saying this because one of the magpies in our building’s garden is practically bald after repeatedly fighting with a family of crows this summer. In their turn, the magpies viciously attack the pigeons and the doves in the garden, leaving them looking much like the one in your photo. Then, a few days ago, two adult crows nearly killed a younger one. Fortunately, a third adult crow (one of the parents, I imagine) and the magpies, surprisingly enough, came to its rescue. Lots of feathered violence in the garden….

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    1. Those birds! Defending territory and position is a serious business. With spring upon us, there are also a lot of feisty males so probably best to keep an open mind in relation to this poor pigeon. Thanks for reminding me of that, Ana.
      It could be definitely be a raven. I saw one eating something meatie down the park the other day. We’ve got quite a few birds nesting at the moment and some that wouldn’t normally eat other birds, eat smaller birds when they are feeding young.

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  12. I can totally see why that is your favorite pigeon; quite beautiful for certain! Hope the search for birdie destruction gives you some results soon

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