Common Grackles

[spatsycat]

Yesterday afternoon, a mob of common grackles arrived in my backyard - 12+ birds. I have several birdfeeders in my yard at Mt. Pleasant & Eglinton, always well attended by sparrows. While watching this massive group , I saw one attack a sparrow! The sparrow had been pecking on the ground and the grackle grabbed it by the neck, sat on it's back and poked at it's neck and back severly with it's beak. This action went on for about a minute, then the sparrow wriggled free and floundered off.
On reading my birding books, I see that grackles do have a 'meat' diet as well as seeds but I've never witnessed this behaviour before. Something unpleasant about a grackle attacking a sparrow vs a hawk taking one of the many pigeons, in my opinion anyway.

[David Shilman]

Years ago, I watched a Grackle catch and devour a young House Sparrow as a group of House Sparrows circled the event vocalising like crazy.

David

[spatsycat]

Thanks for the confirmation David - at least I now know that it's not aberrant (?) behaviour.
Yesterday, the 'pack' never came, just groups of 2 or 3 at a time. No attacks. Perhaps it's a numbers thing - safety in, so to speak (at least from the grackle's perspective!)
Thinking of hanging-up the bird feeding for now - I seem to have boosted the population figures all round.