What did this?( bit messy!)

[gorilla]

We'eeell- we ain't got much in the way of Peregrines round here so, at the moment, we're looking at large cats ( probably with tattoo's) or- maybe I should contact Sculder and Mully?

or mulder and scully...
it was the boyfriend of the headless pigeon who flapped home to find her pecking and ruffling feathers with the pigeon from the next tree

 

[rancid badger]

Righto, thanks a lot everyone,so it's either a cat, a spuggie hawk or SOMETHING ELSE!

Oh- one for gorilla:

It would be pointless contacting Mulder and Scully they're just F.B.I. types, no it's Sculder and Mully we need on this case I think.

Thanks again
R.B.

 

[decorum]

Hmm, I just can't help but wonder if this is what happened to the pigeon in Jon Pickett's thread: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23396

 

[mob257774]

My bet would be female sparrowhawk. Easily capable of taking a woodie. Brains are a
very high energy food. If there is a lot of prey about it would make sense to eat the best bit then move on to the next.

 

[fishfish]

what about a pine martin?

 

[Silverback]

Yup a Sparrowhawk almost certainly!

 

[Nightwalker]

Sparrowhawk killing a Crow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih38DCuZiaw
Its funny how they try to cover their prey as they kill it to hide it from other predators. I've seen this demonstrated before at a show.

 

[leon-1]

what about a pine martin?

That's an interesting thought, they are of the same family as the woverine (mustelids) who quite commonly take the heads of their prey. I don't know if the Pine Marten exhibits similair behaviour, but it would be an interesting idea.

 

[pothunter]

Verr interesting, no disturbance to the surrounding leaf litter, neck and upper back appear to have had a ragging. Suggest avian predator.

If you find another carefully pluck the feathers from the neck and back to see if there are puncture marks from talons, thats about all I can offer.

Pothunter.

 

[Buckshot]

The light dusting of feathers around suggests a mid air hit with the feathers floating down.
It's not uncommon to find a l;ine of feathers on the floor where a pigeon's been taken in the air leading to the carcass itself.

I would say bird of prey as well - I'm sure I've seen this when I was doing my Gamekeeping training. Problem is it's soooo long ago I can't remember what the culprit was

Mark

 

[steve a]

Sparrowhawks have feeding/plucking area's so finding four pigeons in the same area over a period is not unusual, my money is still on the Sparrowhawk

 

[Kepis]

Sparrowhawk and pigeon in my back garden, poor image quality is basically down to the fact that the photo was taken thru double glazing

 

[Nightwalker]

Sparrowhawk and pigeon in my back garden, poor image quality is basically down to the fact that the photo was taken thru double glazing

Still that photo looks great! Good shot

 

[Bushwhacker]

It doesn't matter whether it's a bird of prey or other animal, they will always remove the feathers.
It's how they remove them that's important.
If you look at the base of the feathers, and the quill has a neat(ish) severance, then it's most likely a mammal of some sort.
If it's a bird of prey the base of the quill will be flattened/crushed and have an untidy ragged edge to it.

 

[WoodWhite]

Hmm... saw a decapitated woody just like that the other day... only ever seen buzards and kestrels `round here though

 

[Lodian]

Ive had a as close as it can get encounter with a sparrow hawk my money is on it.

Evil but o so pretty lol

 

[DoctorSpoon]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned weasel. They can be a nuisance with hens so I don't see why not wood pigeons. Friends from the next farm to where we used to live had their entire flock picked off one by one in daylight hours by a weasel which either bit a chunk out of the back of the neck or removed the entire head. The body was always untouched. I caught one having a go at one of mine, but I kept a huge, old fashioned variety of hens and it had only managed to chew away some feathers by the time I was alerted by the noise.

Our old cat always used to eat her prey head first. Often we'd find just the back end of a rabbit in the garden ... or the dog would It always surprised me because in my opinion the best meat is on the back legs.

 

[320]

i've seen turkeys and pheasants killed by owls that looked like that

a farmer told me that the owls would take them at roost

just kill them but not eat them

 

[Bothwell_Craig]

I'd say most likely a Sparrowhawk.

They tend to remove the head first as thats the only danger to them. A good way of trying to work out a culprit is to look at the feathers left, particularly the quill end. If its a bird of prey then the quill end should be intact as the pluck the feathers.
Foxes or toothed animals dont so the ends of the quill will normally be bitten through.

 

[Oblio13]

I have a book about chickens with a chapter on "poultry predator identification. Here's what it says about missing heads:

"... if the head and back of the neck are missing, suspect a weasel or mink. If the head and neck are missing, and feathers are scattered near a fence post, the likely perp is a great horned owl..."