Hello everyone, I have a question regarding the predation of Blue Jays. Today I found a decapitated adult Blue Jay on the edge a mowed lawn on campus. None of the flesh of the Blue Jay was eaten, and all of the primary feathers from one of the wings were strewn in a 2 metre diameter circle around the body. The spine was clearly broken at the neck, and the head was no where to be found. What would attack a Blue Jay and take off just the head (and shred one of the wings in the process)? I have seen Cooper's Hawks on campus and I am sure that there are raccoon about (my best guess), but I thought I would ask if anyone knew of some other interaction that would result in a decapitated jay. There were also ten or so small hollow balls of a mud-like material (5 millimeters in diameter) attached to the skin near the tail of the bird (both on the front of the body and the back). Each had a small opening. Could this be the remnants of some sort of parasite? I just found it curious, so I thought I would ask. Thanks, Sarah Winnicki Granville, Ohio ______________________________________________________________________ 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]