# Dead bird stuff on our balcony



## PigeonFriend244 (Mar 23, 2013)

Ok ok ok, crazy **** just went down on our balcony. 

We have been keeping a bunch of tires and other stuff on our balcony where two pigeons have been nesting. They built a little home with branches and 2 eggs hatched about 2 weeks ago. This morning we look outside and on the ground there's blood, birdseed (?), some kind of bodypart which we think is a heart, and some intestine. And one baby pigeon is gone. What could it be? An attack from another bird? Could it be the mother/father? 

You can see the leftovers of the attack on the link below:

http://imgur.com/2dCRJTi

Why is there only the heart and the one intestine left? Wouldnt they leave the bones and stuff as well?

Grateful for some insight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSncHZG3y34

Thanks


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

a predator got the young bird, which one is just a guess.. but if it was on a balcony I would say a bird of prey got one and carried it off after pulling those parts out..the seeds are probably the crop contents. a large crow or raven may beable to carry the body off as well..but more likely a hawk of some type.


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## PigeonFriend244 (Mar 23, 2013)

Thank you for the answer, that makes sense. We are a bit worried now about the other pigeon baby. We haven't seen the pigeon mom for a while, could it be that it will abandon the nest since they were attacked?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

PigeonFriend244 said:


> Thank you for the answer, that makes sense. We are a bit worried now about the other pigeon baby. We haven't seen the pigeon mom for a while, could it be that it will abandon the nest since they were attacked?


yes, they may have gone elsewhere and got scared off.. do you feel like hand raising a baby? he most likely will go the same fate if the predator knows it is there.


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## tjc1 (Aug 22, 2012)

It could also be a cat. Especially a cat that likes you. They will kill an animal and leave the best parts for you as they see you as a friend.My cats come home and leave us body parts on the front stoop. But they are usually little mammals(mice and moles) If it was a bop I would think it would have carried the baby away as the parents would have tried (in vain) to scare the bird away. A larger mammal type predator would keep the parents at bay while it sat and had dinner.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

I think it was a hawk. I don't think the parents would have stood up to a hawk. That's sad. Yes, please do bring the other baby in, as the predator will be back for him.


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Gotta bring that baby inside, if he/she is still alive. Even if the parents do return, it's a terrible location and the hawk will be back.


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## PigeonFriend244 (Mar 23, 2013)

The parents of the bird did return som we didn't want to disturb and scare them because it looked like they had it under control. 

But I was wrong. I am sad to say that the predator did return and took the other baby too, leaving the same intestine on the balcony floor when we wasn't home. We still dont understand what it was? We have not seen any big birds on the balcony and the neighbor have a cat but we have never seen him and I doubt that he would be able to climb the balcony. 
But the pigeons was wild so they will hopefully find a safer place to nest on...


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## Larry_Cologne (Jul 6, 2004)

Don't know if this info is pertinent, but there was an article in _National Geographic_ a number of years ago on garter snakes. Large numbers of garter snakes would gather to form balls, and stay in holes in the ground or under ledges to spend the winter. At one site the author saw many dead snakes who had had their livers eviscerated by crows as they (the snakes) emerged.

Birds can be picky about what they eat, when there is enough to leave some behind.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

PigeonFriend244 said:


> The parents of the bird did return som we didn't want to disturb and scare them because it looked like they had it under control.
> 
> But I was wrong. I am sad to say that the predator did return and took the other baby too, leaving the same intestine on the balcony floor when we wasn't home. We still dont understand what it was? We have not seen any big birds on the balcony and the neighbor have a cat but we have never seen him and I doubt that he would be able to climb the balcony.
> But the pigeons was wild so they will hopefully find a safer place to nest on...



If the parents couldn't stop the predator and save the first baby, why would you think that they would be able to stop it when it came back for desert?


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## PigeonFriend244 (Mar 23, 2013)

Yes, it was very naive of us to believe that, we just thought that since the parents dared to come back maybe it was safe... Now we know better at least. Thanks for all your responses, we just saw the ones about taking the bird inside to late


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

spirit wings said:


> yes, they may have gone elsewhere and got scared off.. do you feel like hand raising a baby? he most likely will go the same fate if the predator knows it is there.


I guess I should of stressed more to bring him in. I thought it was pretty clear of what would happen.


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