Zombie Sparrows?

[Mebits]

Not this time, but DANG! I was beginning to wonder...

I popped 4 birds this morning. One at 12 yards and the rest at 20+. Nice shooting if I do say so myself.

The thing is, I didn't recover two of them. The first was at the 12 yrd area. I took an attempted Texas headshot again, and I'm pretty sure I hit her in the head as she jumped once or twice and then landed on her back, unmoving. I glassed her several minutes after hitting her, then sat down and did some work. Then I went out to get her and dead male that was out at the feeder. I thought maybe her camo was hiding her from me, but as I looked I saw blood, so I know she was hit and on small birds, a hit is a kill for the most part. Still, I was thinking "...maybe she got up..." I looked hard all around but found nothing. I'm pretty sure she was dead.

Then, I popped two more out at distance. One fluttered a bit then fell over. Rather than risk another "escape", I took a second shot. Now, I glassed that bird. She was blown apart. She wasn't going anywhere. Still, I glassed her again a few minutes after I shot her a second time. So, I sat back down and did some work. Then I got out to get her and I can't find her, either. There's a good deal of blood, as you might expect.

Now, having seen a grackle trying to eat a young sparrow, I'm thinking that the grackles are picking up the sparrow carcasses and flying off with them. That's the only explanation. Cats haven't been coming in and I'm constantly glassing for them anyway.

Anyone have this happen with their sparrow kills?

[Furseeker]

Last week while working in the yard I noticed a Raven paying a little to much attention to the front yard. My wife noticed me watching the bird and was there to keep him safe. But he was brave enough to land in the bed of my pick up and take a cowbird I had shot at the dairy. He just grabbed it took of and landed in the field across the street, eating it right there in front of me.

[djmyers]

I've lost 7 or 8 grackles the same way. Shoot them watch them die then go to recover them and they are gone. I've seen them go into the bushes and lay just inside them edge of them for an hour while I plugged it's friends and then in the time it takes me to get outside they are gone. I've only seen a cat once and 1 vulcher that made his presence known well before he landed. Birds are crazy how they dissappear like that.

[Mebits]

Yeah, I've had crows take dead critters ...heck live critters from me before. Never a grackle. The mystery is still on, somewhat, however.

In my increased vigilance, I noticed a tabby a couple yards over. Pregnant. She sort of sauntered toward our yard and then dropped out of sight. I just sat and watched. Sure, enough, she found a way under the fence and made it into the yard. And she made a beeline to where the missing bird was hit. Maybe she smelled blood, or maybe she remembered the spot where she took the nice bloody bird, but no matter what, she's a prime suspect.

I did take two more today. Both were male, and one at 22 yrds, just bounced and flopped. The other, I aimed for his head at 12 yds. I was thinking I was right on, though I may have hit him a bit low. But up he went, fluttered about 10 feet straight up above the fence, then flew straight into the side of my neighbor's house.  Splat! Big red spot, and then more down the side of the house. I must have hit him in the neck but missed his spine. What a mess. So, I called the neighbor and let him know and met him at his fence. Rather than let me hop over and clean it up he was laughing and took care of bird and blood himself.

Nice neighbor.

So, that's 6 sparrows in one day and there are more. I'm on the war path. I no longer care if the parents of the brood in the building next door die. There are too many of those guys and I'm just now starting to get song sparrows, white-crowned sparrows, and downey woodpeckers coming in regularly. I'm not going to jeopardize that by letting the hosps get a breeding actively again. They must be aggressively controlled.

"House Sparrows may raise 2-5 (average of 3) clutches of 3-7 chicks each breeding season, (averaging 20 chicks per season) which fledge in 14-16 days. They start claiming nestboxes early in the season (February and March). Since they are relatively long lived (up to 13 years), one pair can at potentially quintuple the population in one year. "If unchecked, a breeding pair can grow to over 2,000 birds in two to three years." (Bird Barrier America, Inc.) (Using some conservative assumptions, I calculated one pair could theoretically increase to 1,250 birds in 5 years.)"

http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm
 
M

[dk1677]

Had one vanish last week in about 15 min, I know was dead as the crowmag from the RS3 did a good job on it , Probably a cat possibly a crow

[shadow]

There's other hunters out there just waiting for a easy meal, you whack em they pack em.........away.  :0 Ed