I think of cute little Chipmunks as the little racing-striped animals we see scurrying back and forth stuffing their cheeks with nuts to store for the winter…
Over the weekend, we had an American Goldfinch hit our front window and knock itself out. Apparently there was a chipmunk gathering seeds below our feeder. He immediately jumped on the finch, and proceeded to crunch through it’s head and consume it’s brains. My wife had enough and went outside to investigate…But not before I snapped these photo’s of the little guy eating the birdbrains. Here and here. Sorry for the image quality, but it was very humid and I took the photos through a screen.
I had no idea rodents ate meat. I knew they consumed bugs every once in a while, but a bird? Jeez. This little guy went to town on just the head of this goldfinch. Ate the brains and went on his merry way.
Has anyone heard of this or seen it before?
I had no idea Alvin is a zombie. :eek: 
Chipmunks can’t resist free brains.
I suppose I was under the false impression that the cute cuddly little bastards were just after my nuts…guess they were more interested in brains.
Oh Og terrible joke. Someone shoot me.
Thinkin with your gonads again?
Clearly, the chipmunk saw the bird knock itself out on the window, and knew it was nuts.
Herbivorous animals, including those which eat fruits and nuts, have a hard time getting enough calcium and sodium in their diets, since plants contain relatively little. Deer, cattle, and horses use salt licks; many rodents, which can’t cover enough ground, gnaw on bones or carcasses to get these minerals. And some will opportunistically eat disabled small animals or nestlings. Squirrels, for example, can be serious nest predators on small birds.
The chipmunk probably ate the head because the head’s the best part, with the greatest concentration of calcium (in the skull) and other minerals (in the brain) compared to the rest of the carcass.
I recall seeing an article where deer became a serious problem in a nesting colony of seabirds. They would go around chomping off the heads of the nestlings. So it’s not just Chip n’ Dale, it’s Bambi too.
Maybe this one had a sponsor sticker from Birds Eye.
Rats eat meat and hamsters at least eat their young.
I don’t know about Chipmunks and their relatives*, They are basically vegetarians, but chipmunks, as you said, do eat insects and worms and from what I recall they will eat bird eggs.
Jim
- Squirrels, Groundhogs, Prairie Dogs, Marmots
ETA: sure I get distracted and an actually expert[sup]2[/sup] sneaks in and gives a better answer.
[sup]2[/sup] **Colibri **
