Feathered fiend! Bully pigeon picks up starling by its wing and flings it off garden bird feeder
- Footage shows the juvenile starlings trying to get a few morsels from the feeder
- The pigeon picks up the small bird by its wing and ditches it over the fence
- Video was captured by Alex Appleby in her garden in Hatfield Peverel, Essex
This is the moment a bullying pigeon stakes its claim on a bird feeder by picking up a hungry starling by the wing and flinging it to the ground.
Footage filmed in a back garden in Essex shows the small brown bird being hurled over a fence after it dared to approach the feeder fixed to the top of a post.
Pigeons can be very aggressive over territory and the juvenile starlings tried their hardest to get a few morsels from the bird feeder.
Footage captured in Hatfield Peverel, Essex, shows the bullying pigeon picking up the starling by its wing
At the beginning of the clip, there are three smaller birds next to the pigeon on the fence.
One of the starlings lands on the bird feeder and the pigeon picks it up by its wing.
One of the other bird flies away before returning and sitting on the fence the other side of the bird feeder. The other stays on the fence.
The pigeon holds the starling by its wing before dropping it behind the fence.
It was captured in Hatfield Peverel, Essex, by computer programmer Alex Appleby.
The pigeon stays perched on the bird feeder as it lifts the starling around, still holding its wing
The pigeon swings the bird over its shoulder and prepares to drop it behind the fence
The 58-year-old, who took the pictures in the back garden, said: 'Due to the lockdown, as I've been working from home, I've had more time to observe the birds and take their photos before I log in to work.
'So most mornings now, instead of commuting to work I spend an hour or so with my camera at the ready to record the antics that go on in my garden.
'In this instance it was a very young fledgling pigeon that got a taste for the suet that I put in the feeder.
'It was coming in every day and taking over. The starlings far outnumbered the pigeon, there must have been about 20-30 of them, but once the pigeon had finally finished they managed to get in there and clear up the remains.'
The pigeon bends its neck right around as it lets go of the starling, letting it fall behind the fence
A starling tries to fight back with the pigeon as it puts its foot on the pigeons face
It's not just starlings the pigeon has a go at here. Here it is pictured becoming aggressive towards a jackdaw
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