[CT Birds] Gull/Merganser...more "food spats"

[Boletebill]

Hi all.
    been awhile since I've posted but just to chime in here....last summer I wrote to this list about witnessing a huge "food spat" in which we watched a GBBG apparently trying to drown a DC Cormorant...this aggression went on for 10 minutes with the gull on top and the cormorant beneath with occational "rolls"... like a wrestling move where one tries to turn the tables on the other....in the end the REAL source of this struggle revealed itself...each bird was engorged with about a half a foot of and huge American eel...picture the old Disney film "Lady and the Tramp" in the spagetti scene...but the interesting thing was that the three of us who witnessed this were convinced that this was unprovoked GBBG aggression until the birds finally popped up to reveal that they were both attached to a food item...
   
                                                                   Bill Yule
p.s.holden at comcast.net wrote:
  You know, about it getting out of hand, I was wondering the same thing. 
I've seen gulls have "spats" with mergansers over fish.

Is that story about the mole (linked by Sarah in another message) for real? 
Maybe an urban legend? :-|

Dennis - you have a point, cows don't kill the grass.

Pam Holden
Colchester


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dennis Varza" 
To: "Carrier Graphics" ; "Posting Bird List" 

Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 11:03 PM
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] Screech Owl -


> Hi Folks
>
> I found the Gull-Merganser situation quite interesting. My guess was
> that the gull was after fish but things got out of hand.
>
> Paul's Comments reminded me of an dark humorous event I was told
> about. It is in the literature but I don't know were.
>
> Apparently a Great Black-backed Gull (I think it was the species)
> captured and swallowed a mole whole and alive. The mole then
> proceeded to burrow out of the gull. The gull went into convulsions
> and finally died and I presume the mole escaped!
>
> A cow does not kill the the grass but crops the top of it. But,
> finches are seed predators.
>
> Dennis Varza
> Fairfield
>
>
> On Jan 3, 2008, at 2:00 PM, Carrier Graphics wrote:
>
>> Hi Steve,
>>
>> Guess you witnesed a life and death situation that nature usually
>> hides
>> so well from our eyes.
>>
>> This is not so unusual though. Prey can often become the killer, and
>> killers can become prey. The key is - both must stay on their regular
>> natural track of things. When one gets just a little out of place, the
>> other takes advantage of it.
>> When a Sharpie surprises birds at the feeder, the sick, wounded, or
>> just
>> plain not with it bird is the most likely taken, culled out of the
>> flock
>> for the good of that species overall.
>>
>> On the other side of the coin, I once witnessed a wounded Im Coopers
>> hawk, trying to get at my chickens from the ground, attacked by a
>> flock
>> of Crows - killed, and then, not to waste - eaten. As cruel as we
>> might
>> think it, this is survival, or not, in the daily workings of nature.
>>
>> I also have read in Owls, the larger species will often kill smaller
>> ones when given a chance. Guess we can sum all this up by saying -
>> nothing in nature is ever completely safe from predation of some kind.
>> But the longer they can stay healthy and alert, the better chance they
>> will live for another day.
>>
>> Question: Is the Cow a predator of Grass? Any thoughts on this one?
>>
>> Paul Carrier
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association
>> (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
>> For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/
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>
>
> _______________________________________________
> This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) 
> for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
> For subscription information visit 
> http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org
> 


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