Cooper's Hawk catches bat.

[Bill Hunley]

I was walking along the Roanoke River Greenway this afternoon and saw a rather large bat, possibly a Big Brown Bat, flying over the river. It was flying back and forth, apparently feeding on insects. I observed it through binoculars, enjoying the unusual opportunity of seeing a bat clearly, in broad daylight. As I was watching, a Coopers Hawk streaked into my field of view and snatched the bat out of mid-air! The hawk flew with its prey into the streamside vegetation to feed.

I'd be curious to know if anyone on this forum has seen similar behavior. I know that hawks often prey on bats as they leave huge roosts like Carlsbad Caverns and Bracken Cave in the southwestern states. Bats are good flyers, but this one did not stand a chance against the Cooper's. Maybe bats are good at catching insects, but don't get much experience evading aerial predators.

[Alyce Quinn]

Several years ago I saw some kind of hawk grab a bat that was flying around over our pond.  I don't remember now what kind of hawk or if I even knew for sure since it happened so fast.

Alyce Quinn

Burnt Chimney

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From: Bill Hunley <wjhu...@gmail.com>
To: roanok...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 6:38 PM
Subject: [Roanoke Birds] Cooper's Hawk catches bat.

I was walking along the Roanoke River Greenway this afternoon and saw a rather large bat, possibly a Big Brown Bat, flying over the river. It was flying back and forth, apparently feeding on insects. I observed it through binoculars, enjoying the unusual opportunity of seeing a bat clearly, in broad daylight. As I was watching, a Coopers Hawk streaked into my field of view and snatched the bat out of mid-air! The hawk flew with its prey into the streamside vegetation to feed.

I'd be curious to know if anyone on this forum has seen similar behavior. I know that hawks often prey on bats as they leave huge roosts like Carlsbad Caverns and Bracken Cave in the southwestern states. Bats are good flyers, but this one did not stand a chance against the Cooper's. Maybe bats are good at catching insects, but don't get much experience evading aerial predators.

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[Bill Tucker]

Many years ago, I watched an orange-colored bat flying around below Smith Mountain Lake Dam.
While watching it, I saw an American Crow snatched it out of the air for a snack!  Thought that was
pretty wild!!

Anne Tucker

On 4/28/2015 6:38 PM, Bill Hunley wrote:

I was walking along the Roanoke River Greenway this afternoon and saw a rather large bat, possibly a Big Brown Bat, flying over the river. It was flying back and forth, apparently feeding on insects. I observed it through binoculars, enjoying the unusual opportunity of seeing a bat clearly, in broad daylight. As I was watching, a Coopers Hawk streaked into my field of view and snatched the bat out of mid-air! The hawk flew with its prey into the streamside vegetation to feed.

I'd be curious to know if anyone on this forum has seen similar behavior. I know that hawks often prey on bats as they leave huge roosts like Carlsbad Caverns and Bracken Cave in the southwestern states. Bats are good flyers, but this one did not stand a chance against the Cooper's. Maybe bats are good at catching insects, but don't get much experience evading aerial predators.