I saw a magpie trying to eat a live blackbird when driving today, as I drove by I noticed the blackbird as the magpie flew off. Poor thing didn't stand a chance, he couldnt move, could barely open his eyes and was being eaten alive from inside out. He had ants all over him and blood in his mouth. I rang my shelter who said there was nothing they could do, his state was so fragile that he would die regardless, so I should leave him. But I couldn't just put him back and leave him, he could barely breath. So I popped him into the box I have in the car (for these situations) and tried to make him comfortable. He died within minutes as I stroked his little head. Not a happy ending but likely a better one than being ripped to shreds by magpies. Rip little Barry the Blackbird
First I thought, powerful grip. Then I remembered a bird dying in the hand is not necessarily a bird dying at the hand.
I couldn't just leave the poor guy to get ripped apart by magpies, you know? I wouldn't have been able to carry on driving knowing how scared and in pain he was.
Wow MamaP you seem like such a genuiny sweet person with a good heart. The needs to be more people like you in this world. But anyways I read the title and this was the first thing that popped into my head. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzuvbgKpzQE"]black bird the beatles - YouTube
Do magpies often attack other birds? I don't know if they area aggressive or if the blackbird might have been badly injured by a car before they found it.
Yes and no. Magpies are part of the Corvidae family and so are omnivores. They will eat insects, and some other birds eggs and chicks, they aren't particularly known for attacking full grown and healthy birds. They also scavenge so eat road kill or anything they find dead. I do think the blackbird had been hit by a car as when I found it is could only move its head slightly, the magpie likely took advantage of this knowing it would die soon anyway
It's sad when they go, hard to see or watch but it's a part of nature we can't deny. Sometimes we just can't save them. Edit: Magpies/Crows/Ravens do eat small animals if they are injured, or already dead. They also raid nests for eggs and baby birds...
Its sad to lose life but death for any spirit in this demension is never the end. I Love blackbird by the beatles! ^.^
You did a very good thing MamaPeace! Not many people are kind enough to do that. I did a similar thing for a galah a while back. They're great birds but I swear they all deliberately swoop at your car while you're driving. Anyways... that's what happened, and he hit the top of the windscreen of my mum's statesman. We were on a highway, so it was easy enough to pull over. In the end we had him in a blanket on the floor of the passenger seat till he passed away. We were on our way to her friends house, where we asked to bury him. Magpies and crows scavenging on the side of the road is a pretty common sight here, too. Bad enough seeing it on the side of the road let alone say, in the middle of the road where they can get run over too. There's been a few more times where a crow or magpie has been run down while it's been trying to pick at a rabbit, snake, or another bird in the middle of the road.
I was hanging out with my bestie and her daughter and we were driving down the road when a baby bird got stuck flying into the car and it was hanging on for its life. My friends daughter was crying for me to save it so I reached out and tried to grab it but it got loose and flew underneath the tire of the car behind us. It was sad... It looked like it had just flown from the nest too. =(
