Crows killing a pigeon?

[Kreacha]

Have just witnessed three crows flying above making a lot of noise and something dropped from one of their feet. Went to investigate and it was a racing pigeon. It was barely alive and looked as though it's throat had been ripped out. It then died. I thought they only ate things that were already dead or is this normal behaviour for crows?

[aeshna5]

Crows do sometimes kill adult birds, but usually ones that are weak. They regularly take young birds.

Perhaps this bird was exhausted + the Crows picked up on it. Not nice to witness but just nature in action. I've also watched large gulls kill Feral Pigeons.

[wizzo]

Yes, same here. I've seen Gulls catching and killing a weak feral Pigeon. Upsetting, but nature at work...Wizzo

[werdnal]

All members of the crow family are opportunists and will take advantage of any sick or injured creatures, and even gang up together sometimes to mob and overpower something. If the racing pigeon was weak from exhaustion - racing usually starts in April and with the hot dry weather, some birds may be struggling - or already injured (they often fly into power cables at speed causing horrible wounds to their necks), then crows would take advantage of the situation.

Did the bird have rings on its legs? A rigid plastic right will have its ID number on it - you can contact the Pigeon Racing Association here Royal Pigeon Racing Association > Contact Us, and click on the "Report Stray" button, to give the ring number. If it also had a loose rubber type ring on either leg, this is a race ring, which will prove it was on a race and therefore probably tired or lost.

[Kreacha]

[quote=werdnal;758576]
Did the bird have rings on its legs? QUOTE]

It did have a ring - a hard plastic one. It landed on a neighbour's drive and so they were gonna take care of it. I will go tomorrow and see her and give her the details you provided. Thanks very much.

[jt72]

Hello, this is fascinating, to me (i'm not a "twitcher" or really interested in birds, but I do feed them.

About half an hour ago, I put some cheese out for the starlings which love it, and some sesame seeds for the pidgins (which seem to be their favorite here in Nottinghamshire). As I was surfing the internet by my window, a big black shadow swooped over the garden and caught my eye. I looked, and there was a huge crow, balanced precariously on the fence. Immediately, every other bird scattered, (including a magpie that comes all the time to eat the suet pellets I hide behind the bushes for the blackbirds!) This is only the second time I've ever seen the crow come here, it came first only a couple of days ago, so I wasn't "too" surprised to see it again. But what happened next, really surprised me! Two pidgins suddenly came from nowhere and "rushed" it from above! The crow and the pidgins scattered in a flurry of feathers and I was so surprised, I had to google it! My initial query was, "why do pidgins attack crows?" and I didn't find an answer, but my question led me to this thread, kind of the reverse question I asked, but it answers it perfectly!

Has anyone else seen this behavior? Is it "normal" for pidgins to mob crows?

[nightshade]

A full grown Pigeon dead or alive is a bit of a beak full or foot full for a Crow. I have seen Gulls chop a pigeon out of the sky, but they follow it down to finish it.

[werdnal]

Originally Posted by jt72

Hello, this is fascinating, to me (i'm not a "twitcher" or really interested in birds, but I do feed them.

About half an hour ago, I put some cheese out for the starlings which love it, and some sesame seeds for the pidgins (which seem to be their favorite here in Nottinghamshire). As I was surfing the internet by my window, a big black shadow swooped over the garden and caught my eye. I looked, and there was a huge crow, balanced precariously on the fence. Immediately, every other bird scattered, (including a magpie that comes all the time to eat the suet pellets I hide behind the bushes for the blackbirds!) This is only the second time I've ever seen the crow come here, it came first only a couple of days ago, so I wasn't "too" surprised to see it again. But what happened next, really surprised me! Two pidgins suddenly came from nowhere and "rushed" it from above! The crow and the pidgins scattered in a flurry of feathers and I was so surprised, I had to google it! My initial query was, "why do pidgins attack crows?" and I didn't find an answer, but my question led me to this thread, kind of the reverse question I asked, but it answers it perfectly!

Has anyone else seen this behavior? Is it "normal" for pidgins to mob crows?

Its not unusual at all, particularly at this time of year when they have nests and young to protect. These pigeons - are they woodpigeons or feral "racing" type pigeons? Either way they are very protective of their "patch" and will try to see off anything which they see as a threat. Crows love eggs and young nestlings.