Saw a Headless Pigeon this Morning
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 634
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Saw a Headless Pigeon this Morning
Thread title says it all I guess. A pigeon body with the head cleanly removed on the side of the bike path. Maybe a cat would do that? I don't know. No sign of the head anywhere. Filed among the "strangest things you've seen or your commute" or "roadkill"?
#3
Kaffee Nazi
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Richland, WA
Posts: 1,374
Bikes: 2009 Kestrel RT800, 2007 Roubaix, 1976 Lambert-Viscount
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
BTW this would have been interesting if the pigeon was still flying, but headless and lying beside the road does not do it for me.
#4
Beer is delicious!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 549
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
It's almost certainly the remains of a hawk's dinner. I forget which, but one species of hawk (Cooper's or Sharp-Shinned maybe?) eats the bird's head and leaves the rest. Anyway, headless birds are the calling card of one particular hawk species.
#5
.
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Hillsboro, Oregon
Posts: 3,981
Bikes: Specialized Roubaix Comp, Soma ES
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Barn Owl. Had one of those bastards take out about 12 of my chickens once. Only thing missing was their heads. Vital component though....
__________________
Demented internet tail wagging imbicile.
Demented internet tail wagging imbicile.
#6
Kaffee Nazi
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Richland, WA
Posts: 1,374
Bikes: 2009 Kestrel RT800, 2007 Roubaix, 1976 Lambert-Viscount
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
#8
Tortoise Wins by a Hare!
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Looney Tunes, IL
Posts: 7,398
Bikes: Wabi Special FG, Raleigh Roper, Nashbar AL-1, Miyata One Hundred, '70 Schwinn Lemonator and More!!
Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1549 Post(s)
Liked 941 Times
in
504 Posts
Was Ozzie in town over the weekend? yuck.
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: central ohio
Posts: 1,536
Bikes: 96 gary fisher 'utopia' : 99 Softride 'Norwester'(for sale), 1972 Raleigh Twenty. Surly 1x1 converted to 1x8, 96 Turner Burner
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times
in
4 Posts
Sorry about that. I liked to eat something crunchy on my commute in the morning.
#13
Beer is delicious!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 549
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
It could be the Peregrine Falcon that I was referring to (or even an owl like danarnold suggested). I just don't remember for certain. I went to a program a few weeks ago at the Wildlife Science Center and they had an expert on birds-of-prey there. They brought out birds and the expert from the DNR talked about each species. There were hawks, owls, falcons, eagles... When he was talking about one particular species he said that headless birds were its calling card. I remembered it because I occasionally find headless birds in my yard and it struck a chord with me.
#15
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Zang's Spur, CO
Posts: 9,083
Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3375 Post(s)
Liked 5,513 Times
in
2,856 Posts
#17
Bike Riding Hippie
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Vancouver, WA
Posts: 197
Bikes: Tricross Singlecross
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
My GFs old cat (I'm talking 18 years old) still kills bunnies and eats their brains.
#19
Can't Re Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Wooster OH
Posts: 364
Bikes: 2009 Randonee, 2014 Bike Friday NWT
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Hawks. We had them in the tower of the building where I work. One Halloween a few years ago a headless pigeon landed at my feet as I was entering the building. I turned around and went home.
__________________
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
#20
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 2,242
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Heads up! (as in a larger bird took off with it)
The past few years we've had a lot of rabbits in our area. Until this year. Sure enough, two houses away, hanging out in a backyard tree, is an owl. We didn't notice him but our neighbors told us.
I'm a little worried about our pug, even though she's "big boned."
The past few years we've had a lot of rabbits in our area. Until this year. Sure enough, two houses away, hanging out in a backyard tree, is an owl. We didn't notice him but our neighbors told us.
I'm a little worried about our pug, even though she's "big boned."
#21
Senior Member
What is the location of the bike path? Rochester has three resident Peregrine Falcons and people come from all over the world to watch them.
Paul
Paul
#22
Senior Member
I wonder if birds of prey do this cause there isn't much meat on flying birds; unlike, for example turkeys, partridges, domestic chickens. Plus if they did go after the body, they'd have to spend a lot of time defeathering it which would make them vulnerable to ground attack by bigger animals.
Last edited by Silverexpress; 11-10-09 at 08:35 AM.
#23
multimodal commuter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,808
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times
in
339 Posts
I saw a headless deer at the side of the road last week. If a peregrine falcon got that, I may have to rethink this bicycle commuting thing.
#24
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,952
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Peregrine falcons can do that as described in the food habits of these critters.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire/co..._feature.shtml
https://www.bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire/co..._feature.shtml
#25
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 634
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts