Cat kills rare dusky thrush

Translated from Dutch NOS TV:

Cat kills rare dusky thrush

Today, 14:53

The rare dusky thrush (Turdus eunomus) that was signaled on Wednesday for the first time in Beijum [in Groningen] is dead. A local resident found the animal dead this morning in the garden. Her cat had killed the bird, which had caused so much enthusiasm among birders.

The dusky thrush is a protected species. On Tuesday it was spotted for the first time.

Bird watchers were delighted about the bird and looked for the animal in Groningen city. The resident Ms Boersema resident was surprised by the birdwatchers. “I came out of the bathroom and looked out the window. I saw there were suddenly 150 birders.”

This morning the dusky thrush was in her garden. Lifeless. “I was shocked and thought it cannot be … ?!” When she compared the dead bird with a recent photo, she concluded that it was indeed the rare Siberian dusky thrush.

She suspects that her cat has caught the bird and left the prey for her. For the time being the protected thrush is in a bowl. The Beijum woman will not bury it yet. “Maybe some taxidermist wants it,” she told RTV Noord.

This bird species had been seen in the Netherlands only twice before: in 1899 and in 1955. They nest in Siberia and usually winter in South East Asia.

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