Teamwork!

Here's a quick update on the status of the song sparrow fledgling I wrote about yesterday! I took a look at the bird this evening — it was covered in ants and several large slugs, and the body was reduced to little more than a pile of feathers and bones:

 

 

Closer inspection of the skull revealed a puncture in the top of the cranium — perhaps from a canine tooth, or maybe from a sharp beak! We'll never know for sure.

This was an interesting process to witness, and it was certainly much different than the burying beetles' disposal of the robin. It was a surprise to see the ants and slugs working side-by-side, and as far as I could tell, they seemed to tolerate one another's presence.