What predator kills like this?

[goldfinches]

I was in the yard today and found some remains. It's not from one of my birds. It could be a songbird, or one from my neighbor's flock. She has geese, peacocks, a few chickens and guineas. Maybe more. I don't know what kind of bird it is, it had white and black feathers and red feet.

The remains are feathers, a foot, some of the intestines and the spine with the ribs. I think the hawks are our regular predators, but there's also a pregnant cat I saw recently with a teenaged bunny.

Can anyone give me any idea what kind of predator would do this?

Anyone got an idea of what kind of bird it was?

(my dh said he heard a bird screaming this morning but couldn't find it, so it was killed probably around 8-9am)

 

[Silkie Sue]

i think that could have been just about anything....

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Hawks can pick a carcass clean and leave bones.

Most other animals eat bones and all

 

[Celtic Chick]

About where are you located? What kind of predators do you have in your area?
Larger predators sometimes take the carcass away to finish it off. Hawks & owls can either carry off or eat it there. Weasels will drain the blood & leave the carcass relatively untouched.
And as to what kind of bird it was, what kind of foot was it? Webbed? Clawed? Size? Pic? The size of the foot could tell you the difference between a songbird & a chicken/guinea/peacock. Or the style diff. between a goose/duck (webbed) & a chicken/guinea/peacock.

 

[goldfinches]

Thanks, I thought it was a hawk, and have protected my flock against them. I just wanted to get some collaboration.

The foot was tiny, about the size of my 9 week old BO chicks. It wasn't webbed. I've tried googling red-footed birds, but am not having much luck.

And, I live on the east coast, in Maryland.