Really. It wasn't for food, and there was something quite deliberate and sadistic about it. I couldn't stand the piteous sound the sparrow was making as the blue jay pecked away at it for about fifteen minutes (initially I had no idea what that horrible sound was) so I decided I had to end it because I couldn't work.
I walked outside, and as I walked around the corner towards the feeder, I could see the blue jay standing on the sparrow, deliberately pecking. It looked up and saw me, and as I walked closer, it took one more peck, then flew away. I took the picture below, but it had so much noise it in it is hard to make it out, but you can see the sparrow.
The sparrow had its eyes pecked out, and oddly, there was sparrow blood all over its head. I guess those little birds didn't even seem like they had blood in them. But it was quivering and making noises, so I just put it out of its misery with the heel of my shoe.
Seriously, there was a specific sense of malice on the part of that Blue Jay. It was almost as if it had a vendetta against that sparrow for something, and was making sport of killing it because it LIKED killing it with malice. Never thought I would anthropomorphize an animal like that, but I couldn't explain it any other way.
When the jay saw me, it took one, last...defiant peck. There was a feeling of "How do you like those apples, you effing sparrow piece of crap?"