Hi Peter,
Yes Grey Butcherbirds will terrorise aviary birds. It is not only that they
will extract the bird through the wires but just being there will frighten
birds enough so that if they don't have sufficient cover, they will panic and
die of collision injuries. This happened to me with my finches and Diamond
Doves 35 years ago (when I lived in Melbourne and had birds). True, it could
have been a cat or raptors but they weren't regular attenders. This was in an
aviary. The only one I had pulled through the wires of a cage (when I had some
temporarily in cages with full wooden sides roof and floor except on the one
side the front), though was a Star Finch. A tuft of the birds feathers was left
attached to the wires where it had been pulled through. Although I didn't
witness it, Grey Butcherbirds were there and the only real possibility. I know
that wouldn't stand as proof of guilt in a court of law. True that the one at
fault was me, for being unaware of the risk and not providing sufficient
protection (but I was just a young fellow then). Later I put bird netting over
the front of the cages and that removed the problem.
Philip
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