.......old growth forest. Because this was the only wood thrush found in a early successional forest so it was a must tag.
So one evening at about 4pm myself and 2 other biologist drive the hour drive to my plot, we got out gathered our gear and made our way upward through the garden of hell, I was happy to be with company this time and not alone. We cut through the thick brush and found a narrow logging road, I knew the way and lead them on. We arrived at the nest site and began to get ready to grab one of the chicks and mount a harness on its back with a tracking device.
Attaching the harness went fine and we released it with no problems. I following day the biologist who was tracking this bird with radio telemetry followed the bird to a location on this plot not far from where it was released. The biologist found the fledgling wood thrush dead with its head removed. From what I understand the transmitter was still attached to the body and the head was lying next to it. The bird was not partially eaten or physically harmed in anyway; the only evidence of its death was by decapitation. The biologist found this very strange and reported it to me. He explained that he has found partially eaten radio tagged birds before and even tracked them down while in the stomach of a predator but never has he seen any bird for that matter that has been captured, decapitated and not eaten in any way.
