Unexrected Behavior. Not For The Squeamish.

[Graham-W]

Spent the afternoon in Scarborough today. Was stood by harbour watching the herring gulls and pigeons scratching about in the low tide mud when......a herring gull jumped on a pigeon, grabbed its neck in its beak and shook it like a dog. The pigeon tried to escape but the gull pulled it back by its tail and shook it by its neck again, until dead. After plucking a few feathers out the gull proceeded to eat said pigeon.
I was quite stunned, never having seen behavior like this before. Is it normal or can we expect Hitchcock's "The Birds" to start happening any time soon?

[wolf63]

I think that it is a fallacy that mother nature is all soft and fluffy. My last cat used to sit and eat spiders on my pillow - waking up to the sound of crunching was not a good start to the day.

[Graham-W]

^^Unexpected^^

[jomifl]

Many years ago when I were't but a lad we used to feed the birds in the winter where I worked on the Essex coast. The sparrows used to scoff the morsels and the gulls used to scoff the sparrows. We stopped feeding the birds,

[Traci66]

See, this is why I don't like birds!

[paddywak]

Had a similar experience yesterday when a sparrow hawk took a blue tit off when of the bird tables in the back garden.

[Graham-W]

I had never considered a gull to be a hunter taking pigeons as prey.
Thinking about it, they are hunters, but usually for fish or carrion.
The sparrowhawks normal behavior is to hunt birds. I just never expected it from a herring gull.

[paddywak]

The thing that surprised me so much Graham is we live in the middle of a small housing estate,if I'd out in the country walking I don't suppose it would have had the same shock effect.

[wildwood]

Adult pigeons are not on the usual prey-list of herring gulls. However, the gull has probably had a feed from a deceased pigeon so it knows those blueish birds taste good.

[jelly baby]

I've heard of gulls taking kittens from gardens!

[tamborine]

magpies prey on all birds