While I am not and have never been one either to shy away from the realities of the natural world nor advocate that others do likewise, I must state very clearly hear and now that the video I have included in this post contains a level of violence that I have rarely witnessed in the avian world. While there is no blood visible in the video and even with the assurance that the bird who takes the brunt of the attack survived (at least for a time) and was seen to be moving about half an hour after the recording was made, there is no question that this may well be too disturbing a video for some people to watch.
That said, the video seen here is a recording of an apparent fight (apparent as I’m actually not certain as to just what precipitated the event) between two Western Scrub-jays, Aphelocoma californica. It was recorded by my neighbors and dear friends Ron and Sherry in their back yard in Scappoose, Oregon.
As can be seen, one Scrub-jay has the decided advantage over the other. The severe pecking that the beaten Scrub-jay is taking to the neck and breast is visibly dislodging feathers from that region. Again, I am uncertain as to the true nature of this behavior and would be very interested in the comments of anyone who has witnessed anything similar or who may have other knowledge that could shed light upon the subject.
Peace and good bird watching.
