# i saw a bird in a tree...UK **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 24, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-bird-in-a-tree-uk/150700 "2003-01-24T20:54:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ICP9991](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@ICP9991](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ICP9991)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-bird-in-a-tree-uk/150700/1 "2003-01-24T20:54:06Z")
Coming out of college today (in the north east of England) i was gazing round and saw a um…mutilated carcass of a pigeon hung by its neck from a tree branch high up, i thought it was odd, so i was wondering if anyone knows what caused it, the only other animals i’ve seen in this wooded bit are acouple of squirrells, and some ravens so i reckon either: - The pigeon fell out of the sky and impaled itself - It was suicidal and wanted to end it all - The squirrell mafia found it and hung it in public as an example - A cat killed it and hung it there for later (leopards do this right?) - or, something else… anyone? ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-bird-in-a-tree-uk/150700/2 "2003-01-24T20:57:16Z")
butcher bird. impale the carcasses of their prey on thorns and twigs. could that be it? ---
**Author:** ![ICP9991](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@ICP9991](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ICP9991)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-bird-in-a-tree-uk/150700/3 "2003-01-24T21:00:41Z")
i thought about that but dont they kill insects and not fully grown pigeons? it’d be a hell of a bird to carry and hang a pigeon…unless there’s some eagle thing i havent seen round here ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-bird-in-a-tree-uk/150700/4 "2003-01-24T21:02:14Z")
Sounds more like the work of a human than an animal – have you got any disturbed children in the neighborhood? ---
**Author:** ![ICP9991](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@ICP9991](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ICP9991)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-bird-in-a-tree-uk/150700/5 "2003-01-24T21:08:04Z")
well it was in the college grounds, but it was pretty high up in the thin branchy bits, and the tree can be seen from pretty much every window on the side of the building that faces it… tis a mystery…wrapped in an enigma ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-bird-in-a-tree-uk/150700/6 "2003-01-24T21:23:55Z")
Could it have hooked itself up and then been eaten by other creatures after? I have seen lorrikeets get entangle ta foot in a branch and die from not being able to get away. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-bird-in-a-tree-uk/150700/7 "2003-01-24T21:33:09Z")
Could it have been attacked by a hawk or eagle which failed to make a clean kill? Possibly it half-dodged the attack and, wounded, fell out of the air onto the tree? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-a-bird-in-a-tree-uk/150700/8 "2003-01-24T21:40:35Z")
[Northern Shrikes](http://birds.cornell.edu/BOW/NORSHR/) (butcherbirds) will kill and impale birds as large as a Mourning Dove or a Blue Jay, but a domestic pigeon seems a bit large for one.