birds eaten from closed cage

[imranmushtaq]

Hi everyone,

I live in maple (Vaughan) just north of Toronto in Canada
This is my first time posting here on this forum.
I had four finches a Cuban and fire finch pair In a cage like
shown in picture made by Hagen .
This cage is specially made for finches with very tight bar spacings. This morning i woke up and all the birds were gone . The cage doors were closed, no sign of entry. There were feathers inside and outside of the cage and no sign of blood. Tiny feathers were stuck on the bars in a circular pattern as if the birds were held against the inside of the cage bars while struggling.

DOES ANYONE NOW WHAT HAPPEN TO MY BIRDS. ????? I have kept them outside on my deck since 2008. Has anyone had similar experience ??


Imran

[lovemyfinch]

So sorry to have to meet you under these circumstances Imran
It almost sounds as though a cat or something managed to get a hold of them

[cindy]

So very sorry for your loss. My guess is a racoon did this. They are very nibble with their hands, they can reach in and pull the bird through the bars. They can easily open doors to get what they wants.

Some of the breeders with large birds in outside aviaries (Ft Myers) had horrible issues with racoon. They finally had to hang the cages from the rafter of an overhang. The racoons were able to easily put their hands through the wider mesh used for big parrots and pull legs and wings through. One man had his cocatoos leg injured while the bird was kept on the porch, the leg was so badly injured it had to be removed.

If you get birds again, perhaps bring them inside at night. Racoon, cats, rats hunt and forage for food at night.

[L in Ontario]

Hi Imran, I'm just north of you in Barrie and I work in Toronto. Welcome to the Finch Forum.

I have to agree that I would not leave the cage outside at night with any future birds. I have that same cage and have a pair of OC Waxbills in it. It's a good cage but some vermin can still manage to get a hold of the birds inside it. I'm sorry for your loss.

[waxbill lover]

I would take a guess that it could have also been a Coopers Hawk or Sharp Shinned Hawk, especially as there isn't much left for feathers. They likely took the birds on at a time, go off and eat them and pluck them. They are very small accipiter birds of prey, and they have extremely thin long legs with sharp talons, and could easily reach through a cage like that and grab little birds.

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... =bird+bath

http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/rapt ... inned.html

[annague]

I will agree with Cindy on this one. I had Diamond Doves outside the year before last and fought off the 'stinkin' coons every night after they pulled a couple of doves through the bars with exactly the scenario you are describing. Just some blood and very few feathers sticking to the bars was all that was left.

The cage was huge so I couldn't bring it in by myself (it has to be disassembled with tools) and I had no place for my doves without it but when my hubby came home from travelling that was the first thing I asked him to do -- bring in the doves and cage.

No more birds outside at night for me. It was a sobering experience. If I ever build outside flights I will have an electrified moat around it for those stinkin' coons!

[6finchfriends]

Welcome but I'm very sorry for your loss. It only takes one incident in several years to devastate your pets. My guess would be raccoons unless your cage can be knocked over and it wasn't. Raccoons are not careful about how they get their food and will tear things apart or knock them over to get at what they want. If you are in a rural area it might have been some sort of a weasel type animal. They can get in anything. so can rats though weasels are meat eaters. a lot of animals are feeding their babies now and are going into areas they normally wouldn't in search of food. I hope you are able to purchase more finches! So sorry for your loss

[6finchfriends]

Anna- We had to put an electric fence around our pond. I can't tell you how may $$beautiful fish$$ went to the 'coons. I had a thought, do you have Possums? They could have gotten them as well but my guess is racoons. It is so horrible to wake up, go out to see your beautiful birds/fish/whatever and have them gone.

[annague]

I've never really had any sort of negative feelings toward ANY animal (including the lab that bit my son) but I am telling you that if my husband decided to trap and relocate a few raccoons from our area I would not be unhappy! It's not like they didn't have plenty of other things to eat in the area -- we live right beside a creek and there are tons of crawfish, fish, etc.

But NO! Those STINKIN' coons have to go after some scrawny little birds. Nasty things! I guess snakes and possums can also be very destructive. We have to learn to plan around any outdoor predators.... so, yep, an electrified fence if I ever put birds outside at night again.

[Queen_Bee]

So sorry to hear about the loss of your birds. Raccoons are probably the culprit. They are crafty and very adept at getting into things they shouldn't. It could also have been mink or weasels, although they are much less common in the city.

[nixity]

Agree with Raccoons - this happened to me with cochin bantam chicks and a duckling.. it was horrific.

[farmgirl]

I am SO sorry! It's hard loosing you babies...

I had 2 gouldians in a cage with 1/2 inch bar spacing and one day my parents were in their room putting up a ceiling fan, they left for 2 minutes and my cat came waltzing up to them to show them the prize she had just caught, my female gouldian. She had forced it through the cage (ripping it's head off in the process) Because of this I refuse to put my birds in a cage with more the 3/8 inch bar spacing. My cats can't seem to get their grubby mitts in between them. And yes, that cat became an outside cat....

[rcirmele]

Sorry for your loss. I used to live on a fifth floor condo in Chicago and felt very safe leaving my birds out on the balcony. One day I heard them making more noise than usual. When I looked out on the balcony this North American Kestrel was about 6 inches from the cage trying to figure out how to get to my finches. Luckily, I scared him off, but I never left them unattended after that.

[Piciorusm]

TO me happened the same! A cat climb up the roof and from there jumped on the cage! It didn't manage to get just with the clow in the cage, but enough to hurt the european goldfinch and break one wing and leave him on the bottom of the cage almost featherless and bloody! The bird died in several hours!...No chance! I will get myself a slingshot, or something...I don't wanna hurt any animal, but still...There was a precious finch!

[annague]

Piciorusm, that is very sad. So sorry for your loss!