Strange Find?

Dennis - AL · Sun Mar 24, 2013 5:59 pm

I was doing a gourd check today and found an ASY male dead in one of my gourds without a head. It appears it was pulled completely from the torso. The head was not in the gourd either. No other damage to the bird's body.

Craig Dyer · Sun Mar 24, 2013 6:44 pm

Dennis,

I encountered the same thing once. In one of the gourds, a headless female. Very strange. I thought perhaps an owl or accipiter had grabbed and decapitated her as she was attempting to exit the gourd.

Laverne · Sun Mar 24, 2013 6:52 pm

Some landlords say this type of mutilation is actually a raccoon. I don't understand why they don't eat the meatier parts of the bird. Maybe they can't stomach that many feathers.

You're gonna need some predator baffles. Maybe this site will help you get started.

http://www.purplemartin.org/forumarchiv ... eguard.htm

Best wishes to you for a great season.

Dennis - AL · Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:25 pm

Thanks Craig and Laverne for replying. I am perplexed as to what happened, but raccoons I am pretty sure are not the culprit. I live in town and in my 30+ years have never seen a raccoon.

My gourds are retrofitted with SREH entrances. Hawks are my colony's major threat... Never had a problem with owls or snakes. Starlings are not even a problem. The SREH keep them out 100%... highly recommended to new martineers.

Very perplexing.

Thanks
Dennis

Louise Chambers · Sun Mar 24, 2013 7:36 pm

I think hawk or owl - raccoons often leave severed wings below the house. I've seen a hawk at a roost catch martins, eat the head and discard the body - maybe like grizzlies eating just the fatty skin of salmon. The brains must be rich in nutrients. Sorry that happened, Dennis - if you have big hawk problems you might want to add cage guards.

Craig Dyer · Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:26 pm

As I recall, the gourd with the headless female had an exterior porch but lacked an interior porch. It also had a crescent entrance hole. I have watched martins sometimes struggle for a second or two when attempting to exit these gourds. That is perhaps what gave the predator the edge and a little extra time to react.

Brad-AL · Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:34 pm

Any blood in the cavity? If a bird was killed by decapitation, there should be blood everywhere. Their hearts continue to beat for a while after decapitation.

Craig Dyer · Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:53 pm

No, as I remember, none or very little blood. So strange...almost as if the head had been pinched off. Exactly like the picture Dennis posted.

Martin man RI · Sun Mar 24, 2013 9:08 pm

When i was living in the city i found a house sparrow the same way.
Head was missing. Kind of odd the bird was in the gourd. And not on
the ground. I cannot even venture a guess. Very strange. ---Ray

Dennis - AL · Sun Mar 24, 2013 9:57 pm

Louise, I watch all the birds come in to roost every since the scouts have arrived. I have scared off, on three occasions a Coopers hawk. He sits on my property line waiting for the birds to come in to roost. I can guarantee that he is not the culprit.

There was no blood in the gourd Brad. No other destruction to the body of the martin, only the head missing and as though you took a sharp knife and surgically removed it. As Craig stated "the head is pinched off".

The only thing that is going on is struggles for cavities. I have 25- 30 birds coming in to roost. Once again, I am using SREH's and have not seen any breeches this season so the only way for this to occur would be for the martin to stick his head out of the entrance, and a predator to remove it or gain access to the gourd and do the damage. Very strange!

Thanks for all the input. I will continue to watch. I am on vacation this week and will be spending a lot of time working my garden.

Thanks everyone.... Dennis

Dennis - AL · Sun Mar 24, 2013 10:01 pm

Ray, you are spot on with the headless sparrow. That is exactly how I found the martin. Headless and inside the gourd. The only thing is that a sparrow (hard to believe) or another martin, but I cannot understand another martin doing this type of damage. What would he have done with the head. I searched the gourd and could not find the head.

Dennis

~Ray~Gingerich · Mon Mar 25, 2013 12:55 am

That sure sounds like an owl to me. I've seen it done to poultry.
I read somewhere that male owls will leave headless rodent's and birds laying around to lure in females. So maybe that's what happened.

Ted n Ms · Mon Mar 25, 2013 3:10 am

Could be a mink. It will eat the head and lick up every drop of blood.

Dennis - AL · Mon Mar 25, 2013 8:31 am

How could the mink or owl access the gourd (SREH) and provide such a clean kill and leave the bird inside the gourd with the access port secure?

Dennis

~Ray~Gingerich · Mon Mar 25, 2013 8:46 am

Might have grabbed the bird by it's head as it was exiting and then unable to pulll the birds body through your SREH

Don · Mon Mar 25, 2013 8:52 am

I had all of my tree swallows wiped out a few years ago. Turns out the predator was a flying squirrel. The head was always gone and frequently there was some gnawing at the back muscles.

Ted n Ms · Mon Mar 25, 2013 9:12 am

Dennis - AL wrote:How could the mink or owl access the gourd (SREH) and provide such a clean kill and leave the bird inside the gourd with the access port secure?

Dennis

Dennis an owl can't enter a sreh but a mink can go in a one inch opening. I had one get in my chicken house and kill eleven hens by cutting their throats. A trapper caught him two nights latter.

Dennis - AL · Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:16 am

Thanks for the information Ted. I have never seen a mink around this area, at least that would get by my Jack Russell Terrier, but their ability to get into a 1" opening would account for the fact the head could be removed and torso of the bird remain inside the gourd. Would the mink only remove the head and leave the torso?

I will read up on mink predation. If anyone can give additional information on mink predation, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks everyone.

Dennis

Siberman · Mon Mar 25, 2013 6:34 pm

You'e be suprised how many 'coons live in town , Dennis .

I'm rural and had one preying on my chickens one year . It would eat the head and maybe take a bite or two out of the upper breast . My Dad seemed to think it might have been a mink but I caught the varmit in the act. ( 'Coon is excellent BBQ , btw .

)

Have any large squirrels around ? I've seen them raid bird nests for eggs and young.

Dennis - AL · Mon Mar 25, 2013 8:26 pm

Never seen a coon in the 30+ years I have lived in this house. We used to have squirrels but after 2004 (Hurricane Ivan) we cut all the pine trees in our yard and the Jack Russell Terrier keeps strays out of the yard.

Siberman, do you think a squirrel could get in the SREH entrance?

Dennis