Non boaty ... what small bird

[VicS]

What small bird has one of the neighbours' cats caught in our garden.

 

[sarabande]

wide pagtail, ex.

 

[2nd_apprentice]

Judging from the 10p I'd say a magpie

 

[VicS]

wide pagtail, ex.

Ah could be. Dont often see them though but all sorts come early in the morning that we don't see during the day.

SWMBO though perhaps a long tailed tit.

 

[Seajet]

Yes, a wagtail sadly.

They're particularly friendly birds with a lot of character; my girlfriend has 2 cats, I like them but there are times I'd happily drop kick them the length of a few gardens...

 

[VicS]

Just had another look at the feathers still on the ground. The little ones off the body have a light chestnut brown tip to them

It's raining now so I'll photograph them when they've dried.

 

[Sans Bateau]

Kill the cat.

 

[mjcoon]

Ah could be. Dont often see them though but all sorts come early in the morning that we don't see during the day.

SWMBO though perhaps a long tailed tit.

L-TTs are one of my favourites, so good to report that looking at aegithalos_caudatus that seems unlikely.

He doesn't have Pied Wagtail, unfortunately; I have seen them darting amongst the feet of shoppers in our town. Grey Wagtail he does have, but they are usually associated with water.

A Magpie would make a good adversary for most cats! They are well known to tease by tweaking tails...

Mike.

 

[johnalison]

A recent survey appeared to show that only about 15% of cats' kills are seen by us and vast numbers of birds frogs lizard etc are slaughtered by these predators every year.

 

[voicilesrosbifs]

A recent survey appeared to show that only about 15% of cats' kills are seen by us and vast numbers of birds frogs lizard etc are slaughtered by these predators every year.

Oh I'm sure you are right. But then a vast number of al those and dogs and cats and badgers and etc etc etc are slaughtered on the road by us. Shall we kill motorists?

 

[Seajet]

We get male & female Pheasants wander into the garden and take up residence every now and again; while I'd have thought a cat could deal with them easily, they treat them with respect and just watch from a distance.

I saw two Magpies rolling around in a real fight once, they must have been watching films of John Wayne bar-room fights for tips, quite spectacular !

 

[ulava]

Magpie no for sure, a young one at that if you look at the feathers you can see that they are not hard penned ie soft in the quil with blood and not fully developed , so just out of the nest or still in it, I used to fly birds see here,http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=13539

 

[VicS]

Just had another look at the feathers still on the ground. The little ones off the body have a light chestnut brown tip to them

It's raining now so I'll photograph them when they've dried.

More feathers. Chaffinch??

 

[Scomber]

cats sometimes catch - or should i say kill-woodpeckers-greater spotted ? (has black and white feathers) - we had a cat once -never again!-i've only ever seen 2 green woodpeckers and our lovely cat killed one of them
by the way -what right do they have to come and bury their stinky s--t in our garden ?

 

[VicS]

Much smaller than the greater spotted tree knocker I think. They do visit the garden though esp the juveniles. They like the peanuts!

Wondered about the lesser spotted version but have never seen one of those.

Green woodpeckers very occasionally come into the garden but we can often hear their laughing calls.

 

[DJE]

by the way -what right do they have to come and bury their stinky s--t in our garden ?

None whatsoever, so get one of these!

 

[nigelmercier]

Judging from the 10p I'd say a magpie

I was thinking the same

 

[VicS]

I was thinking the same

managed to get a close look at a chaffinch this morning.

Definitely the feathers of a chaffinch.

Black and white wing feathers and a light chestnut brown patch on its back.

 

[mjcoon]

Wondered about the lesser spotted version but have never seen one of those.

I thought I had seen one, years ago. But they are so rare I was probably mistaken.

Anyone wanting biological identification of a photo could try posting it on iSpot: iSpot; your place to share nature

Mike.

 

[chinita]

A recent survey appeared to show that only about 15% of cats' kills are seen by us and vast numbers of birds frogs lizard etc are slaughtered by these predators every year.

Nothing personal, but how do you draw conclusions from a survey which admits that 85% of kills have not been seen?

How do they know?