Chickadee cannibalism on Cameron Pass?
Pat Hayward
"(My friend) and I were driving over Cameron Pass today (4/17) in a gnarly snowstorm. There was a couple feet of fresh, wet snow. Temperatures weren't terrible, probably in the upper 20's.
There was a 1-2 mile section of road near the top of the pass where hundreds of chickadees (I think--the visibility wasn't great) were sitting in the road and getting smashed by cars. It was horrible. Many were sitting on their own, unwilling or unable to move, but sometimes flying away at the last second.
Even worse (and weirder) were the endless groups of chickadees, a dozen or more per group, sitting in the road eating their dead buddies, and also getting smashed by cars. Also saw a few crows getting the same treatment from the packs of chickadees. What on earth was going on?"
Thanks for any thoughts - I'll pass them on to her.
Pat Hayward
Pat Hayward
Eric: One thing I know is that even songbirds are not above eating meat, even if it's the flesh of their compadres if that's what's available. In a storm like this, and at that pass, it would be relatively easy food to get, and clearly very nutritious. Birds are often opportunistic.
"But why were they sitting there and getting hit by cars to begin with, and then continuing to sit there and get smashed by the dozen?" - Let me turn that question around, and ask, why *wouldn't* they sit there? Chickadees are almost certainly not aware that snowed-over roadways are dangerous places. Cars are not predators in their eyes, and the vast majority of their lives is spent completely above and away from such things. And if the weather is cold and snowy, their reaction times against these unfamiliar entities are already greatly impeded. Yet, their survival impulse (being at a ready and rich food pile) probably keeps them in place just long enough to get run over and thus become an attractive food item for the next batch of chickadees that passes by.
Dave Leatherman: Maybe the initial attraction was salt, followed by salt toxicity (equals sluggishness), death, followed by opportunistic scavenging. Just a possible scenario.
Amanda: I drove up Thursday morning - i70 was already a huge mess, so I took the long way and was so glad I did. But then, there was only an inch on the road, though several on the trees. Chickadees are small enough that they can't go too long without food. So I'm guessing that after over 24 hours of being buried by wet and heavy snow, they got somewhat delirious and starving. But I'm sure glad I didn't see that in person!
Sarah: Pat and Amanda--if either of those scenarios are true it seems like we would all have seen this at some point, doesn't it? Roads get salted all the time, and we get big snowstorms all the time. And it was weird how they were clustered in this one area. In other areas we saw individual chickadees in the road, but most of then flew away as we approached.