senseless killing..

adamharbeck · Post by **adamharbeck** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:51 am

Ok, I am absolutely horrified. Just yesterday i bought my good friend a beutiful male red factor canary for her empty cage. I put him in a small spare cage and hung him up outside under the patio next to my mule untill she could come by to pick him up. He was eating really well and being very active but had not started singing yet.

I was checking up on him regularly and all was well untill about half an hour ago when I went out to discover him laying dead in the corner of the cage with an (apparently viscious) wattlebird pecking away at his lifeless body and a gang of 28 parrots wating in the wings for scraps.
I was so livid, I could not beleive what I was witnessing!

Has this sort of thing happened to anyone else? I am now gravely concerened for the long term welfare of my mule which also hangs in an outdoor cage under the patio. Should I keep my mule indoors now and only put him out when I can "supervise"? I thought it would be nice to hang them outside wher they could enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. Apparently I was very wrong!

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 6:42 am

you have me wondering just how small the cage was and also about the spacing of the cage bars, or did the other bird somehow force its way into the cage.
I have had wild birds near my aviary on occasions by none can get at any of my birds nor could anything access my breeding cages if they were put outside. so I guess my birds have had a couple of frights but nothing that has killed or hurt any of them.
if anything ever does get into my aviary it wont leave of its own accord it will follow the same trail as mice and mites do

adamharbeck · Post by **adamharbeck** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 6:56 am

It was a very study, old style steel cage, about 14 inches long, 10 high and wide. The only thing i can think is that the bird harrassed the canary untill it became exhausted or had a heart attack. It was only a temporary cage, i honestly didnt expect anything like this to happen. I mean, he was in cage. Apparently my family has seen "a bird with a long, hooked beak" climbing all over my society finch cages, I guess this was it.
I have since moved my mule inside. I would have been much happier if he could have stayed outdoors, but I dont want to risk him suffering the same fate. Given that his cage is about twice as big do you think he might be ok? or better safe than very, very sorry?

Adam

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:04 am

at the risk of upsetting a lot of people in here, what I would do is have an empty cage with an open door and hope the mongrel bird returns and lets itself in, cos if I could catch it I would remove it from the vicinity on a permenant basis.

I think your other bird will be ok

adamharbeck · Post by **adamharbeck** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:38 am

Very, very temting. But there are so many of them here I would probably have to hang a couple dead ones up as awarning to the rest, Pirates of the Carribean style.
I think in future I will just have to be much more careful about what cages I leave out. The mule is in this type of cage.
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... 9#prodTab1
Think he'd be ok outside?

FinchezRule · Post by **FinchezRule** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:01 am

Where do you live?

adamharbeck · Post by **adamharbeck** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:29 am

Western Australia, south of Perth.

adamharbeck · Post by **adamharbeck** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:35 am

This was the culprit. They must like to mix pet birds into thier nectar based diet

http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=8

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:03 pm

Adam I have the same birds here, they can be a pain in the ass.
Other than my dog chasing them away, I found that by destroying any nests they tried to build in trees in my yard and setting off small fire crackers of an evening when they are trying to roost in the trees seem to discourage them. scoreboard here so far is dog 2, cat 0, me 0 and lost finches 0.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:40 pm

I wouldn't think that wattlebirds would be predatory like that. I had a Butcherbird problem last summer. During the hotter days I used to leave the birdroom door open for extra ventilation. For a period of over 6 weeks or so I lost 2 canaries and about 5 societies. In all cases there were parts or all the bird missing. Strangely enough, they didn't attack any of the other species. For a long time I was blaming the neighbours cat and was ready to trap it, until one day I walked in and there was a Butcherbird hanging off the cage front attacking the canaries. I have also seen Hawks perched on top of my aviaries. I wouldn't leave any bird outside in Australia in a cage that doesn't have 1/4 inch wire.

adamharbeck · Post by **adamharbeck** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:57 pm

I am wondering whether it was a predatory or territorial attack. I know nectar feeding birds are attracred to the colour red so maybe a red factor canary was a poor choice

I still dont understand how it could have got it through the wire. My best guess is it exhasted it until it colapsed next to the wire and could be reached from the outside. If only if had of stood its ground and stayed on its perch!

tammy w · Post by **tammy w** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:19 am

hi,i am also from western australia and have seen this same fellow hanging around my birds. My cage is very safe but this doesnt seem to put them off-he probably harrased the canary to death? Nature is cruel

ruth · Post by **ruth** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:59 pm

Omg! Im so glad we dont have those in good old England. the butcherbird sounds horrific!

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:53 pm

I guess the wild birds are just doing what comes naturally. it's up to us to make certain that our cages/aviaries are secure so that this is unlikely to happen

adamharbeck · Post by **adamharbeck** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:33 pm

I have spoken to a fellow bird keeper and landcare officer at work about these birds. Apparently they are firecely territorial and will attack and kill any bird they can catch, especially now its breeding season. Poor litttle canary never stood a chance. He obviously waited until the canary was in range and pulled him hard against the bars and mauled him. Apparently the butcherbirds are worse, they "befriend" cage birds by singing to them and then when they get close, they pounce.