“And you play your part, not withdrawing from the world when you realize how horrible it is, but seeing that this horror is simply the foreground of a wonder" - Joseph Campbell
Was the changing of seasons responsible for this pile of red feathers? Did I stumble into some wild evidence of a cardinal marking one more year survived?
Or are they dinner crumbs?
In that case, they're the wild evidence of a hawk, marking one more day survived (or one more fledgling fed). It's a hawk being as hawk as he can.
Plants get to be fully plant without getting blood on their chin, in most every case. However, they are no less party to the cycle of death and life as animals are. They're just a bit slower and quieter, I think.