"Death From Above..."

[JJ]

When a Cooper's Hawk shows up by the feeders...the birds scatter like a shotgun blast!  This morning's capture...

A majestic and beautiful raptor...

[n3303j]

Would love to see the sharpest shot in full resolution.
Nice bird.

[davedel44]

Several years ago a lone pair of Red Shoulder Hawks moved into the small park down the street.  Since then they have successfully raised numerous chicks.  They are spreading out to other neighborhoods.

You are right , when they fly by the birds scatter.  Have have seen them take numerous white wing doves, mice and the occasional juvenile squirrel. 

An adult will wound a mouse, leave it in the grass and the fledglings will repeatedly practice a kill by flying out of a tree and pouncing on their prey.

Birds are fascinating creatures.

[pehayes]

My Cooper's is a smart, lazy bird.  He no longer even tries to capture the finches at my feeders.  He just blasts through the back yard at full tilt and makes a big U-turn.  Regularly, one of the finches will bounce off the kitchen window and stun itself.  Cooper just casually drops down and picks up his spastic treat from the ground.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Rough Edge racing]

 We have many Red Tail and small Kestrel hawks that are attracted by our hens...The rooster sounds the alarm and they are cluster under bushes..I think the hawks are actually interested in rodents... We have seen Black Vultures here for the first time this year..The usual Turkey Vultures seem fewer....And lots of Bald Eagles......Our neighbor had one fly into truck grill...The bird died,he called it in and the DEC came to bag the dead eagle..

[JJ]

Would love to see the sharpest shot in full resolution.
Nice bird.

Yes, I had to take these from my upstairs office window, through the glass, thus the slight distortion...

[giusto]

Too funny "Death From Above" !!!

I'd say this to my daughters kitty every time she let it out in the yard along the river.....she'd say dad stop....but kitty was keenly aware of the wide open space above her head and always looking up....that said we  were sitting on the porch (with daughter) as an adult male bald eagle zipped in and picked a little cottontail off the grass and watched as it carried it away in its talons screaming.

she never let her kitty get more than 3 feet from her outdoors again.

[Sheepdog]

We get a bunch of raptors here, as we are along the Mississippi River flyway. Our chickens scatter at the sight/sound/shadow of the hawks overhead...and do it pretty well. It's the owls that wear out our flock. We have to be careful to get all our birds in the coops before dark or were sure to find a pile of feathers come morning..

[wirespokes]

My property borders on a wildlife bottoms preserve where thousands of geese, along with egrets, ducks, cormorants, and others collect every year. In the fall and spring huge flocks of geese blacken the sky. When they all suddenly take off with the sound of honking and flapping wings, there's a pretty good chance the resident eagles are soaring overhead.

We've seen the eagles go after ducks trying to wear them out. One will dive on the bird why then ducks under the water. The second eagle times his dive just as the duck surfaces. Back and forth.

One time we saw the eagle grab a duck out of the air, take it to a stump and while holding it down with one foot, pluck out its feathers. When done, it hauled dinner to the nest.

[PhilB]

We get plenty of owls and hawks up here in NH, and a few golden eagles.  Bald eagles are native to the area, but I haven't seen one in my own yard yet.  Both of our cats are 18 lbs each, so the birds pretty much leave them alone.

Over the years, out on winter walks, I have taken pictures of a few dead mice:










PhilB

[Rough Edge racing]

 There are always stories of raptors carring off small doga and cats. " My uncle saw an Eagle carry off a small horse".... I do know tthere are true stories of Great Horned Owls attacking smaller pet ainimals on the ground...
  Here's some info by the Alaskan Wildlife Service, they should know some facts...

       https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=343

[moto-uno]

This is one of two that moved here a couple of years ago and would play with the many crows we feed . Obviously young , as they would let me get within 8 feet of them
to take pictures . Watching a Coopers hawk chase crows has to be seen to be believed . Peter
And yep , the songbirds were nowhere to be seen that spring !

[normzone]

My Cooper's is a smart, lazy bird.  He no longer even tries to capture the finches at my feeders.  He just blasts through the back yard at full tilt and makes a big U-turn.  Regularly, one of the finches will bounce off the kitchen window and stun itself.  Cooper just casually drops down and picks up his spastic treat from the ground.

Interesting ... I spent the night at the Coronado Islands on a small boat in an inlet, and the resident seal took advantage of our anchoring light that night.

Single light on the top of the boat attracted krill, which attracted flying fish to eat them. The seal would rush the boat and the flying fish would scatter, one or two inevitably thumping off the side of the boat and stunning themselves, to be eaten by the seal who would then retreat, wait, and repeat.

[Tom]

We have one native hawk but we have more native owls.

https://abcbirds.org/bird/hawaiian-hawk/
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C4M7QZuUS7o/hqdefault.jpg

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Hakalau_Forest/wildlife_and_habitat/pueo.html
https://www.fws.gov/uploadedImages/Region_1/NWRS/Zone_1/Big_Island_Complex/Hakalau_Forest/Images/pueo%20520x289.jpg?w=493&h=211&mode=crop

[Bill]

Death from above for sure.
 Departing my FLorida neighborhood on My Guzzi, a Coopers hawk glided in front of me in a shallow but fast dive. I knew he had a target. Steady as a rock he continued his dive toward the ground. He hit hard right into a Gray squirrel. The Gray never had a chance.
 On Kodiak Island I watched a Bald Eagle snatch up a large rooster on a back road. It was a heavy load but he flew over the road surface to gain speed and altitude.  Watched another eagle pick up a rabbit in thick  Alder. Was  impressed watching it carry the big rabbit thru the thick Alder without hitting his wings on the branches.
Bill