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 > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at > www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]