Bird fell from the sky

Not sure where to post this, but I figure somebody here will know what happened.
Yesterday I was out in the driveway splitting some wood when I see something out the corner of my eye and hear a flapping noise. the dog heard it to and we both went to investigate. A little bird, maybe a sparrow?, fell from the sky near my house. When I got closer it was on the ground fluttering about. After a minute or less, it stopped moving. I noticed some red spots on its feet, berries maybe? I poked at it a little and rolled it to see that it looked like it had been stabbed (pecked?) in the chest. I watched the little guy die. I've never seen such a thing. I didn't notice a lot of other birds around.
I'll post a link to the picture just in case somebody doesn't want to see a little bird with a fatal chest wound.
I give up. I can't figure out how to post a link without a picture.



What do you all think happened here?

My guess is that a hawk got him but didn't manage to hang on to him.

-SF

Looks like the hawk got the little guy right in the heart! I guess everybody has to eat.

I think I saw a movie which started like that? Some virus got loose then people started to get sick...

...my guess is a hawk too mother nature is pretty incredible.

Andromeda Strain?

-SF

Well, if you guys don't hear from me, I guess you'll know why and what's coming.

Perhaps it is the avian flu they have been predicting and the hawk didn't want to catch so he dropped the little guy hoping someone would dispose of it safely......You were wearing rubber gloves and an mask prior to investigating your find? :roll:

Kid with a BB gun around there?

Poor little guy... :long:

Nature can seem cruel, but that's the reality of it all. We just don't see it too often. They all need to eat, the strongest survive, etc.

Would have to be a pretty good shot or very lucky. The bird is about the size of my hand and would have been shot in flight.

Even birds fly into things every now and then.

We've got a pair of Cardinals that stay near the house. That looks like the female. 'Cept ours hasn't got a hole in her chest. Still alive too.

That's a Cardinal? I thought it was a sparrow. I don't know much about birds.

That was a "looks like" moment. Maybe it's a Spardinal.

maybe it was an "airplane" strike?

A small airplane.

I was talking to some neighbors and they reminded me that we have lots of Eagles here on the lower Hudson River this time of year. Might have been dropped Eagle food.

Probably one of those things that happen in nature all the time, but we are never around to see. The fact that you saw the bird moments after the attack is a natural moment that reminds us there is always a life and death struggle going on amongst us in the animal kingdom.

I am always surprised at how much nature I get to observe on my little suburban 1/4 acre. All kinds of birds from these little guys up to Bald Eagles overhead, Squirrels, O'possum, Racoon, Rabbit, Fox, Deer, Turkey, Mouse, Chip monk, Rats, Woodchuck, Skunk, even Coyotes across the street in the woods. Kinda neat and only 40 miles from mid town Manhattan.

That is an English Sparrow, aka common house sparrow. I think the evidence (murder weapon) is sticking out of the bird. Look closely in the photos and you can see a stick protruding from the wound. It looks like a freak accident where the bird accidentally flew into a pointy stick just right.

I see that in the picture, but it didn't look like that when I saw it happen. It might be guts hanging out. I didn't save the body, so I can't check now.

Ramon Bow has it right - a House Sparrow, female or maybe an immature male. Birds often hit windows, thinking that the reflection in the window is real, but sounds like yours didn't. Must have hit something to be so bloody. Most window-killed birds don't have any blood on them, or maybe just a little around the beak.

Ramon Bow has it right - a House Sparrow, female or maybe an immature male. Birds often hit windows, thinking that the reflection in the window is real, but sounds like yours didn't. Must have hit something to be so bloody. Most window-killed birds don't have any blood on them, or maybe just a little around the beak.