Black Feathers Everywhere!

[queenfairypants]

On two seperate occasions my mum and I have seen small black feathers on the ground in our garden in two seperate places. Does anyone know why this is? Do adult birds shed feathers or have birds been getting attacked?

p.s. I love this site!

Thanks x

[big bill]

Depends on the quantity of the feathers if its just one or two then its probably just normal but if there is a load then it could be sinister like a cat may have got a bird,sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear but its a way of life in the wild .
Glad you love the site do not be afraid to ask questions thats what the site is all about ,if you post your question in the relevent section someone will answer you with the answer or point you in the right direction

[wildliferescuer]

big bill is right, if there are a lot of feathers it may well be a cat but it could also be a sparrowhawk as they will prey on garden birds & then sit on the ground with their kill & pluck it before eating it. If there are a lot of feathers in one place, a sparrowhawk could well be the culprit.

[ron1863]

I would go with Sparrowhawk as a cat usually takes the prey away. We have had mice, shrews and little dead birds left at out front door, and we don't even have a cat.

[queenfairypants]

There is a cat next door. So I'm guessing the cat did it, surely I would have seen a Sparrowhawk if there was one about? I saw one a while ago actually but that was at my boyfriend's house but I didn't even see it properly. The most, what I'd called exotic things I see around here are swallows but I once saw a Buzzard