Mon Feb 1, 2021, 07:17 PM

Harker (11,935 posts)

I saw a wild turkey kill a chickadee today.

I noticed a turkey running around our yard with something flapping around in its beak, closely pursued by the rest of the rafter. It was windy, and I thought maybe it had picked up a stray piece of plastic or something.

I took a look with the binoculars, and was surprised to see it was a struggling chickadee.

It lay motionless on the snow when thrown aside.

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7 replies	Author	Time	Post
I saw a wild turkey kill a chickadee today. (Original post)	Harker	Feb 2021	OP
Poor little thing nt	XanaDUer2	Feb 2021	#1
+1	whathehell	Feb 2021	#2
+33. n/t	Harker	Feb 2021	#5
that is strange	handmade34	Feb 2021	#3
The turkeys, sometimes as many as thirty at a time...	Harker	Feb 2021	#4
Love my chickadees and they are lightning fast. They talk to me when I go outside.	KY_EnviroGuy	Feb 2021	#6
Maybe so...	Harker	Feb 2021	#7

Response to Harker (Original post)

Mon Feb 1, 2021, 07:33 PM

XanaDUer2 (7,412 posts)

1. Poor little thing nt

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Response to XanaDUer2 (Reply #1)

Mon Feb 1, 2021, 07:39 PM

whathehell (27,850 posts)

2. +1

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Response to XanaDUer2 (Reply #1)

Mon Feb 1, 2021, 10:06 PM

Harker (11,935 posts)

5. +33. n/t

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Response to Harker (Original post)

Mon Feb 1, 2021, 07:58 PM

handmade34 (22,271 posts)

3. that is strange

I imagine that the chickadee was injured when the turkey came across it...

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Response to handmade34 (Reply #3)

Mon Feb 1, 2021, 10:05 PM

Harker (11,935 posts)

4. The turkeys, sometimes as many as thirty at a time...

peck at corn, oats, and seeds that fall from feeders.

Chickadees are here (upstate NY) in large numbers as part of a mixed flock. I hadn't seen an injured one prior, so I'm guessing the little dear had no fear.

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Response to Harker (Original post)

Tue Feb 2, 2021, 12:41 AM

KY_EnviroGuy (14,242 posts)

6. Love my chickadees and they are lightning fast. They talk to me when I go outside.

Surprising a turkey could catch one. Perhaps it was sick or injured.

KY........

.........

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Response to KY_EnviroGuy (Reply #6)

Tue Feb 2, 2021, 07:19 AM

Harker (11,935 posts)

7. Maybe so...

Last edited Tue Feb 2, 2021, 08:35 AM - Edit history (1)

I prefer to think they're just too innocent

A mutual love of chickadees, and birdwatching generally, had a lot to do with my wife and I getting together.

I, also, feel a great kinship with them. Many of my best friends are and have been chickadees and mountain chickadees.

ETA:. There's a patient two-note call coming from the woods, a potent reminder of the tenuous nature of life.

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