Amazing Sight! *Possibly Graphic*

#1

This afternoon I was talking on the phone with my mom…I have a habit of just pacing the house while I talk, and, while walking through our dining room, I looked out of the front windows and saw a huge hawk in the middle of the street! I just said to my mom, “Oh my God! Oh my God!” She was getting concerned, but, the sight was so amazing, I had no other words!

At first I thought the hawk might be hurt, but, upon closer inspection, I realized the hawk had just caught its dinner! I put my mom on hold and ran to grab my camera! The pics turned out ok, I switched the camera setting to “auto” since I knew my picture taking time was limited…Our street is fairly busy and I knew it wouldn’t be long until a car drove up the street and scared the hawk away.

So, the pics could better, but I’d rather have this than nothing! And, of course, after a few pics, a car came up the street and scared the hawk away…Even the hawk just taking off, with its dinner was an awesome sight! I feel badly for the poor little animal the hawk caught, but, I know the hawk needs to eat and that’s just part of nature.

I am, however, very puzzled as to what kind of animal exactly the hawk caught??? I can’t tell what it is!

#2

Hmm, the picture didn’t post…Re-try

#3

Cool. That’s rare to see.
There was a hawk down at chain link fence height when squirrels were playing all over the yards here but it never went after anything.

#4

Upon further inspection, I’m thinking maybe what the hawk has isn’t dinner…It looks like a bird, kind of like the hawk…Maybe a baby? It looks awfully big but possibly a baby hawk learning to fly or something that fell and mama is carrying it? When the car came and scared the hawk away, it took the animal in question with it…I don’t know! Regardless, it was an awesome sight to see!

#5

It’s food, different kind of feet.
Looks like a dove or a pigeon.

#6

That is a great shot…Hawks have such an impressive aura about them

#7

That’s awesome! I love hawks. Red tails are common where I live, but they still cause me to yell “look , look” to whomever’s around when I see one :teehee:

Once, when I was walking to work I saw a dead bird on the lawn of an apartment building. I wasn’t about to go close to the carcass, but as I got closer to where the bird was a hawk swooped down and grabbed his breakfast mere feet from me. It was scary and yet really exciting at the same time. Certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be on the wrong end of those talons.

#8

I agree with Mike. Pigeon or dove.

Since red-tailed hawks (including the famous Pale Male and Lola and their offspring) have made a comeback in New York City, they are helping to control the pigeon population. I understand that the city has also stopped using rat poison so the hawks can safely eat their fill.

We also have smaller hawks. Two merlins (sparrow hawks) hunt from the railing on my terrace. They wait for an unsuspecting finch or sparrow to fly by, then gang up on it, catching it in midair and shaking it to break its neck – all very fast and clean. Sometimes they dump the body in one of my planters and come back for it later. It’s always gone in a few hours; maybe they take it back to their nest to feed the youngsters.

I’ve stopped putting bird feeders on the terrace; they’re like a free buffet for the hawks. Here are a few of our NYC “locals,” photographed by Lincoln Karim, who maintains the web site.
http://www.palemale.com/2009.html

#9

wow- that is a great pic- amazing you could snap it in time and have it come out so well. Definitely was prey the way it is holding it, I don’t think a hawk would carry around its young.

#10

Great pic.

You’d love it where I live, we have a very large bald eagle population and see them daily there.

#11

That’s a great picture! Some years ago, I heard an awful “screaming” noise in the back yard, and when I looked, there was a hawk having a Starling snack. It was pretty awful, yet fascinating at the same time and I couldn’t help but watch. He ended up flying off with it, but I was just in awe, only having seen the cycle of life on TV and all.

#12

looks to me like a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and the bird it has caught is definitely a dove, probably a Mourning or White-winged–can tell by the amount of white on the feathers. yes , hawks are awesome creatures–there was one just above my birdbath a few days ago–they look so regal. linknit41

#13

Yeah, we were trying to figure out what kind of hawk and hubby was thinking at first Peregrine Falcon, then thought maybe a Cooper’s hawk or Sharp-Shinned hawk. I’ve seen another (or same one?) about a year or 2 ago, up in our neighbors tree…I did get a few pics but they really didn’t turn out too well.

It was an awesome sight…I’ve seen lots of hawks flying around out here, but, to see the hawk, in the middle of the street, with its prey no less was an amazing sight!

#14

I didn’t keep the pic open “long enough” to identify the hawk…but he/she is dining on a Morning Dove…I see this “carnage” constantly in my back yard…Morning Doves are very slow movers (not sure why) but “they” get picked off all the time around this neck of the woods!!!

#15

That is just amazing. It does look like a dove or a pigeon.

#16

Great picture! Ain’t nature grand?

We have this flock of migrating birds called swifts in Portland. In the fall, on thier way south, they make a pit stop in an old chimney that is no longer used. People gather at sunset to watch. Its quite the show. FOlks bring blankets, wine & cheese. THe swifts go into the chimney in a whirling motion thats really pretty but then some hawks soop down and catcha few unsuspecting swifts and the crowd goes wild. There’s both boos and yeahs.

Portland OR is such a cool town

#17

Yea, birds are amazing creatures, right now (in our coldest weather/snow) I make sure I put out lot of seed/suet…I get the most beautiful cardinals, blue jays, juncos, several different species of sparrows and woodpeckers…but I just cringe when a few hawks come sweeping down and grab up a few of these non-suspecting creatures…I refuse to “watch” but see the “aftermath” of feathers later…Oh yea, and I do get some amazing “Great Horned Owl” hoots very late late night:inlove:

#18

Yeah, every now and again, we hear a Barred Owl in the wooded area behind our house. It was really neat because one year, I think 2006 maybe, just before Halloween, I heard it just hootin’ away and wanted to try to identify the owl by the call it made. I searched all sorts of sites with WAV files and listened through a ton when I came upon the call of a Barred Owl. I opened up my window upstairs that faces the back of the house, turned up the volume and played the WAV file a few times…The owl actually responded! It was the coolest thing! Now the owl (if it’s the same one) comes around sporadically, but when it does, I just love to listen to it. I just wish I could get a pic, but, there are so many trees behind our house and I usually don’t hear the owl until at least midnight, usually later.

#19

Linknit41 hit it on the head–sharpshin with dove dinner.

Sharpshins are very nimble in flight; the long tail and narro pointed wings give them a great deal of maneuverability. There was a pair nesting behind my house last year…one of the adults was carrying a rat home to the kids, shot into the trees, weaving in and out of the trunks with ease; its coloring made it practically vanish among the branches and trunks.

#20

Hey, great shot!

While I was on campus last semester, a hawk had caught a squirrel (I think it was a hawk) and a bunch of people were standing around taking pictures of it while it ate!