War!

[Kenn]

I was walking through the local church yard a couple of days back and stopped as there was an almighty racket coming out of the Yew tree. I could hear the alarm call of a blackbird and the cry of a magpie.
To my amazement a thrush burst out of the tree pursued by a magpie with 2 blackbirds hot on it's tail feathers.
The three cousins then ganged up on the magpie and the feathers were really flying.
After a few moments of being severly pecked and harried the magpie beat a retreat
The thrush and the blackbirds after adjusting a few ruffled feathers flew back into the tree where they proceeded to mutter and twitter for a few moments.
I can only assume that either the thrush or the blackbird has a nest in the tree but although I have frequently seem magpies harried,my local crows go for their cousin at every oppurtunity, I was quite amazed to see both species having a go together.
Whilst I know there are no magpies in the far north I would be interested to hear of any other cross species attacks on potential threats from either raptors or crows.

[Seabird]

Lapwings have got to be one of the most aggressive towards Carrion and Rapters.
Any posed threat by these birds during the egg and chick season is greeted with a persistent air assault.
They remind me of the Spitfire with it's wide wings that made it more manouverable in combat.
It's fantastic to watch and a very common occurance.
I've watched Crows and Lapwings chase off a Buzard on one or two occasions.
Like Humans most animals will put their life on the line for their children.

Colin

[dellwak]

Not quite the same thing, but worth a mention.

We were sitting on our patio once when a female blackbird landed in our garden and started hopping around in circles. Of course, our cat went into hunting mode, belly on the ground and tail swishing. With that, the male blackbird, who had been perched on the house roof, swooped down and gave him a right ding on the head. He has still got the scar to proove it and has given blackbirds a wide berth ever since.

[Sporran]

Your poor maxicat, dellwak! He must have been eine katze mit kopfschmerzen, after taking that hit on the head!