I'm pretty sure it was  a Blue Jay that destroyed a cardinal nest one
time.  I think some  birds
will eat the yolk from eggs they destroy and also eat part of, not
just kill,  tiny baby birds.  Part of it is 'less of you and yours
more for
me and mine' and part of it is I think its just hey a source of
protein.  Maybe its linked to time of year too? Nesting and raising
fledglings is stressful
and might broaden food sources temporarily.
Blue Jay's love cat food too which in my book puts them strongly in
the omnivore camp.
Someone mentioned chipmunks as bird killers - that was news.    I'm
not saying its not true but I've been overrun
with chipmunks around an active bird feeder and never seen it.  I'm
just not sure how they'd do it.  Like raid nests?
So....could it be regional?  A learned behavior?

Oddly, I've got a young squirrel who's been eating the cat food.
That was a first for me.

Marie, Fairborn

On Jun 24, 2008, at 6:13 PM, Wootten, Judith wrote:

> While all my house sparrows are, unfortunately, thriving, I saw
> something new to me last week.  A bluejay was carrying a small
> mouse in its tallons and stopping to feed at low branches of
> evergreen trees.  I didn't see the jay catch the mouse, so it might
> have been a "found object," but I've not see jays eat mammals before.
>
> I know that crows are omnivores and that jays are in the same
> family, but the mouse thing was new.
>
> jay in Salem, OH
>
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