Red Tailed Hawk kill

[My442]

We live in S.E. Mass., and there are a lot of red tailed hawks. Last night, my wife and I were sitting on our deck, watching the birds on the feeders and enjoying the warm summer evening. A morning dove (looks like a small pigeon) flew off from the bird feeder. Out of nowhere came a red tailed hawk. It hit the dove about 15 feet off the ground, did a 360 degree spin with the dove it it's talons, and brought it to the ground. Then, the hawk immediately flew away with the dove.

It happened in a split second, and it is amazing how fast the hawk moved.

Mother Nature is an amazing woman!!

 

[VABlue]

I've seen that a couple of times, and it is impressive! I used to train/trial retrievers and we used pigeons and ducks (among other bird flavors) for training. Seeing the explosion of feathers when a hawk hits is exhilarating and fun to see. It's also disgusting when you need to call back the dog and start over!

Around here, we need to watch the wife's two Yorkies (combined 8 lbs) whenever they are outside. We're worried about both hawks and a Bard owl that lives nearby. The terriers are the size of rabbits...

 

[Wacky]

I often, when hunting, love to just set back and watch nature in action. I set for hours, nothing like becoming "part of nature" and having everything happen around you as if you are not there. I have seen the same thing but with a field mouse I didn't even know was there just 20 some odd feet away, scared the @#$% out of me. I think the same for the hawk as he dropped it when I jumped, and about fell out of the tree stand I was in. Nothing is quite like seeing that stuff 1st hand, rather than on TV.:thumbsup:. Everyone should just set out in nature and just take a break from the world and see how everything works from Mother Natures standpoint.

 

[Hawghauler]

IRS agent training

 

[Tig]

It is amazing to watch a bird hunt. We have an osprey that occasionally hunts the river. Out of nowhere come the big splash. He generally hangs around until I go get my camera.

 

[czechsonofagun]

While hunting I had a hawk dive through the canopy and grab a squirrel from a tree. He almost hit the ground with it but made it back up with a lot of wing flapping.

 

[mburke121]

I've seen Cooper's Hawks do the same thing a couple of times in my back yard. Both times, the doves were on the ground in pine straw. I got to see the hawk take one of the doves into a nearby tree and eat it. Like the OP said, the hawks came out of nowhere and caught me completely off guard (not to mention the doves). Hawks are truly magnificent predators.

 

[Thomas]

Its good thing mother nature pets don't turn on us humans.

 

[DanD78]

Redtails are so thick around here there are almost no rabbits or pheasents come hunting season. I wish they would target ground squirls. The cyotes dig up the ditch banks to feed on the ground squirls because the hawks have eater all the other small game.

Dan

 

[jinman]

Red-tailed hawks sit in trees and on telephone poles along our highways. One time my wife counted 13 birds in just one 40 mile trip. Over the years I've had several close calls with hitting the birds as they dive for rats/mice along the roadway. It seems that when they dive, their attention is so focused that they don't see cars as they angle down to the ground. As a result, I've seen lots of them lying dead on the roads, but I've never actually hit one myself.