My 3 kakariki parrots got killed - help me solve the mystery please

[Vidinsky]

MODERATOR EDIT: GRAPHIC CONTENT...

Hello.
First of all sorry i am posting such a thread but I had my 3 kakariki parrots for 7 years and something killed them during the last 3 days and I really need help to identify the reason. My big daughter (7) is crying for her parrots because she just met what is the cruelty of nature and I want when we have new parrots to be able to preserve them.
I have to share picture so someone can help me understand what could be the reason.
So long story short, we had 3 parrots, 2 got killed 2 days ago. One got his head removed and it wasn't in the cage, the second one was injured and on the insides and maybe a bit on the head. Today, the 3rd one got killed - he was eaten a bit from the head and one of his wings. I can only imagine its some kind of small falcon or a rat.. no idea.
Nothing can get through the cage, at least I think that. I don't think it`s a snake because they would have been swallowed.
When I was cleaning I saw an egg, I can only presume its from my dearest parrots.... they never had eggs, this was their first.
I am devasted, can anyone share his thoughts? Given the cell, something was attacking them from outside the cage.
Any clues?

 

[foxgloveparrot]

Welcome to the forums. I'm so sorry for your loss.

Is it possible that this was a raccoon attack? Raccoons will kill birds by biting their heads off and dragging them away from the rest of the body. They typically target poultry, but I've heard stories of them attacking caged birds. I think there's a thread on AA about this.

If that doesn't sound accurate, then I have no other ideas, but I will reiterate that I am so incredibly sorry about your precious birds. Please take care of yourself and your daughter. Hugs.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Oh my! I wish I could help you solve this puzzle. It's possible to be a small mammal of some sort. If it were a rat, they would have hauled off the body and stored it somewhere. :'(

**Hugs** SO sorry for your losses. Kakarikis are awesome birds.

 

[Kentuckienne]

I had to Google it, so this isn’t eyewitness testimony. Everything I find says karikari eggs are white. Are you sure that’s an egg? It looks like it has some kind of growths on it. But I can’t identify it online using the picture. Maybe you can search for images of snake/turtle/bird eggs for species that live near you. Or it could be a fungus or mushroom and not an egg. Does it have a hard shell or is it soft or firm?

Where was the cage, outside or inside? Have you got pictures of the cage?

 

[Jcas]

So very sorry for your loss; how heartbreaking! Weasels, minks, and raccoons all sound like potential culprits. I don’t know where you are in the world? That might help narrow it down. I’ve had a raccoon reach its fingers through half- inch hardware wire and rip up one of my quail; killing it even though it couldn’t eat it. I added a layer of metal window screen over top of the wire to keep anything from reaching through.

 

[Botsari]

I'm so sorry for your loss. But God forgive me, I do love a good murder mystery, and this one is pretty weird. The first thing I really want to know is the maximum width of entry to the cage. Is it just the bar width, or is there somewhere else wider? This narrows down considerably the culprits, and the appendages of the culprits, that could have done the deed. Where exactly was the cage? Indoor rats and small mammals yes, but you mentioned falcons. Sherlock Holmes would probably concude the cage was outside - is that true? Would a raptor type bird even have access to the cage? Since animals that attack others animals do so moslty for food, or on occation pure defense, if the former then they would consume or remove the prey if they could. So I'm thinking it was possibly an animal that wanted to eat your birds, but could not get into the cage. Can you narrow down the time - was it at night? Since it was a return visitor I'm guessing it was a "fox returning to the henhouse" type senario. So all the more urgent to figure this out. Also my apologies, but I have to ask becuase it is pretty significant "evidence", and I dont think you mentioned. Was the head ever found, and if so exactly where? It seems like the one thing you can reliably say about mpst cages is there should be no way for the head of a bird to make it from the inside of the cage to the outide of the cage without going through an open door. Racoons and other small, clever mammals do open doors, but they seldom close them again when they leave.

As for the egg that doesn't seem to match up with your birds - that is some Agatha Christie stuff! You found this inside the cage?

 

[Trogdor]

I had some teenage chickens in a small bird cage at night in the coop once. (They were old enough to be out during the day but not quite ready to roost with the adults). A ground squirrel came in the night and killed and ate parts of three of them right through the cage bars. It was gruesome. Squirrels can be surprisingly carnivorous. This was in southern Arizona- would help to know your location.