Today, I witnessed a Grackle dragging a little adult bird. The Grackle was pecking at the small bird but it appeared still alive. I shouldn’t have interfered but, I interrupted in hopes of saving the smaller bird. I know, I should just leave nature to be what it is. I could see that the small bird’s neck appeared broken. The Grackle returned and was trying to get back to the small bird that he had killed. I decided to leave and let nature be what it needs to be and then returned 10 min later. I found that the Grackle had decapitated the bird and took it’s head only. This proves that Grackles decapitate small birds and take their head only. It’s sad to see but I understand it’s nature and the Grackle’s way to survive. Circle of life. 
Not a grackle, but does illustrate how a feeder can be used as an ambush site for a predatory bird:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65334858
Thanks for confirming what I observed! Funny how I never saw anything as specific as the decapitation behaviour in what research I could find.
Sad to see? Well, in human terms, yes. But I’m sure you agree that when it comes to animals, we all need to spend more time understanding and observing than judging everything from the human context.
And that leads back to a topic I added last week:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/does-behaviour-count-as-an-observation-why-or-why-not/32477
I have no idea in what format or how behavioural data would or should be collected by ‘amateurs’. But I do believe it’s pretty vital to us achieving a much better understanding of the living world.
Thanks again for sharing that story. And welcome to the forums!
Maybe the ones who do this should be referred to as grizzly grackles rather than common grackles? Still really interesting seeing this whole thread!
That is an incredible observation. Great photos as well.
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