Sharp shinned Hawk

[Suzanne Carley]

I heard a loud noise on the window and I went to find out what happened.  Then  I had to look for my phone to take a photo. This Sharp Shinned Hawk has a Mourning Dove pinned, and then flew away with it.

[Noah Comet]

Always amazing to witness such moments, even if they can look a bit grim to our eyes.  (As Tennyson put it, nature is unsentimental, 'red in tooth and claw.')

One thing---with the head looking (to me) capped rather than hooded and with those thicker legs and the bird's overall size in relation to the dove, I'd call this a Cooper's Hawk, not a Sharp-Shinned.  Does that feel right to you?---or are you pretty solid on the id?

As you may know, accipiters have been known to use windows in precisely this way: put a prey-bird to flight, get it to stun itself by smacking into a window, and then swoop down for an easy meal.  Again, grim, but quite brilliant too.  It's essentially a form of tool-use!

Noah

On Wed, Oct 16, 2019 at 8:30 AM Suzanne Carley <suzan...@gmail.com> wrote:

I heard a loud noise on the window and I went to find out what happened.  Then  I had to look for my phone to take a photo. This Sharp Shinned Hawk has a Mourning Dove pinned, and then flew away with it.

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