Dismembered bluetit in nest box

[Johnny Appleseed]

A couple of years ago we put up two "sparrow terraces" - one nest box with 3entrance holes and subdivided internally into 3 individual nest boxes.

I put them on a north facing sheltered wall, 2.5m above ground level on a bare wall - no climbers or shrubs near them. Well isolated and secure I thought.

I took them down to clean them out of last years nesting material and found a dismembered baby blue tit inside. Only its wings and tail remained strewn around one of the nest box compartments.

We knew a blue tit family had moved into one of the sparrow terraced homes because we saw them with nesting material and frequent visits back to the chick(s).

I am curious as to what has happened here. The entrance hole is only sparrow size and I can't think of any predator capable of entering the nest.

The only things in the nest were the feathered remains of the chick. No egg shell pieces at all - just nesting material.

Any ideas or comments please?

[Tam]

Grey squirrel ?

[Two_Sheds]

Adult will try and remove dead chicks from the nest, so the body doesn't infest the nest with disease/pests.

Perhaps the adult managed to pull out only parts of the dead chick, and left the rest?

[Hilary B]

Maybe a sparrow evicted the blue-tits, and removed the rest of the dead baby while making their own nest?

[Johnny Appleseed]

Thanks for the ideas everyone - it's more than I could think of.

Perhaps I could add a nest box camera to my Xmas wish list.

Or is it too early for such thoughts on the forum yet?

[lynda66]

probably a magpie, they pull them out of nest boxes, and a baby can lose its wings by flapping as the magpie is pulling..... i hate magpies.

[Johnny Appleseed]

probably a magpie, they pull them out of nest boxes, and a baby can lose its wings by flapping as the magpie is pulling..... i hate magpies.

We have many magpies in the area lynda - they could well be culprits on reflection.

Are they tasty in a pie.................

[lynda66]

dunno, though probably not much meat on them, it probably tastes like pigeon. let me know when you've tried it

[Cloud]

My guess is possibly a Rat or even a Crow.
I have seen Crows attack and kill and then eat birds and rodents.

[Hilary B]

I wouldn't recommend eating magpie. There used to be recipes for cooking rooks, but that was the 'about to learn to fly' stage, and rooks are more omnivorous than magpies anyway. Magpies are almost entirely carnivorous (including a fair amount of carrion)....
Pretty (as crows go) but about the nastiest thing that ever flew into a garden!

[Johnny Appleseed]

I was only joking about eating magpie.......really! :-)

I'd become a vegetarian if I had to prepare my own meat for the table.

[Two_Sheds]

I like magpies.

Many people blame them for the decline of songbirds, but the RSPB says not so. The numbers of songbirds remain pretty constant whether there are lots of magpies or not many magpies. The loss of hedgerows and insects due to modern farming/gardening is more to blame for loss of songbirds, than predation. The RSPB: Magpie: Effect on songbirds