Question: Do big Birds eat Small Birds?

Renata Medeiros answered on 17 Jun 2013:

Yes they do, all the time! Birds of prey (eagles, owls, falcons) will eat any little animal they can find and they regularly eat other small birds. Crows and magpies are also quite “nasty” (and clever) and will attack other birds’ nests to eat their eggs or youngsters. Gulls are also well known for eating their neighbours’ eggs or babies. More typically these birds attack other species’ nests but they also eat youngsters of their own species.
I lived in a seabirds’ colony for quite a while and everyday I would find dozens of headless bodies of the species I was studying – Madeiran storm petrels. They were being attacked during the night by a single Long-eared owl (a massive bird) that also lived on the island. This owl must have found it so easy to catch the storm petrels (they are not very good at knowing who their enemies are) that most of the time it would just eat its favourite bit (the head) as a little treat. It was a very sad time for me!