Birding/Grackle Behavior

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Expert: - 6/6/2009


Question
There are many, many doves where I live near Phoenix.  In the spring the grackles attack the young doves, remove the heads and leave the bodies.  Do you know why?  Where do the heads go?

Answer
Grackles are predators and will eat lots of kinds of food, as do many blackbirds. Nestling heads are easy to pick off the body, so they are an easy source of protein. Other predators also eat the head first, and sometimes only the head of birds - owls, hawks, etc. I suspect they do this not only because the heads are easy to eat but because the brain is high in protein.

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Roger Lederer

Expertise

Any and all about WILD birds - the science of ornithology. Information about birdwatching, ecology, conservation, migration, behavior, banding, rehabilitation, feeding, songs, binoculars, identification, and careers in ornithology. No questions about pet or caged birds, please.

Experience

Have a PhD and over forty years as a professional ornithologist - research, teaching, author, speaker, webmaster of Ornithology.com . Have written thirty scientific papers, three bird field guides, a textbook in ecology and two recent books entitled "Amazing Birds" and "Birds of New England". Have traveled to over 90 countries watching birds.

Education/Credentials
PhD in Zoology/Ornithology; Emeritus Professor of Biological Sciences; former Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at California State University, Chico

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