Red Tailed Hawk kill

My442 · Jul 10, 2010

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 · Jul 10, 2010

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 · Jul 10, 2010

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 · Jul 10, 2010

IRS agent training

Tig · Jul 10, 2010

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 · Jul 10, 2010

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 · Jul 10, 2010

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 · Jul 10, 2010

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

DanD78 · Jul 10, 2010

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 · Jul 10, 2010

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.

DelSc · Jul 10, 2010

One spring I was walking at the edge of the woods by my house around dusk. I spotted a red tailed hawk high up in a pine tree. I later walked out into the open near a bird feeder, and felt a whoosh of air behind my head, and heard what sounded like something flying away. By the time I turned to look it was gone.

I thought I was losing it, or imagined it, so I continued to walk, but then felt/heard it again. I kept walking but prepared myself so that I could turn quickly if I heard anything. Sure enough the third time I saw the hawk dive bombing me, then flying back up into a different tree. He went back and forth between trees dive bombing me five or six times total (never touching me) as I walked back to the house.

Later that week I saw a few smaller birds teaming up and harassing a hawk. Not sure if it was the same hawk, but they would take turns flying at him and sort of nip at him. It was an interesting display of nature.

QRTRHRS · Jul 10, 2010

DanD78 said:
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

While hawks get blamed for wiping out all the game, the fact is that without a healthy population of prey, it is the redtails and other bird of prey species that will become scarce. The lack of small game is directly related to a loss of habitat from development, fence rows being cut down and plowed under, etc.

QRTRHRS · Jul 10, 2010

DelSc said:
One spring I was walking at the edge of the woods by my house around dusk. I spotted a red tailed hawk high up in a pine tree. I later walked out into the open near a bird feeder, and felt a whoosh of air behind my head, and heard what sounded like something flying away. By the time I turned to look it was gone.

I thought I was losing it, or imagined it, so I continued to walk, but then felt/heard it again. I kept walking but prepared myself so that I could turn quickly if I heard anything. Sure enough the third time I saw the hawk dive bombing me, then flying back up into a different tree. He went back and forth between trees dive bombing me five or six times total (never touching me) as I walked back to the house.

Later that week I saw a few smaller birds teaming up and harassing a hawk. Not sure if it was the same hawk, but they would take turns flying at him and sort of nip at him. It was an interesting display of nature.

The bird was protecting it's nest. Sometimes redtails will strike and sometimes not. Lucky it was not a goshawk. They usually mean business.

MossRoad · Jul 10, 2010

I've never seen a red tailed hawk take a bird. I've only seen them take mice, rabbits and squirrels. I've seen cooper's hawks take doves, pigeons, birds and all forms of mammals on many occasions. We also have ospreys in our area as well as a pair of nesting peregrine falcons downtown. Those are fun to watch take pigeons right over the heads of people on the sidewalks. :laughing:

om21braz · Jul 11, 2010

Interesting to see red-tails' take a snake too.

podagrower · Jul 11, 2010

While I was having lunch at a friends property on day (opening day for dove hunting, and we were waiting for the birds to come home in the late afternoon), we go to see a hawk snatch a dove out of the air. Awesome.

Around our house, there is a pair of hawks (red shoulder) that hunt together. They like to use the clearing from the highway to our house to drive doves. One hawk on the left, one on the right, above the dove, leaving the dove with the options of flying into the house or pulling up into the hawks talons. It seems to be about 50/50 what the doves do. It is a little disturbing to have a dove hit the house while you are having dinner though.

Ken45101 · Jul 11, 2010

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

You just live in a safe area. Although attacks are rare, grizzlies and polar bears think they are the top of the food chain, not humans. There is a town up on Hudson's Bay (Canada) where the polar bears wander through town in the fall and people have to be very cautious going outside.

Ken

brin · Jul 11, 2010

Several times now while out bush hogging I have see dog fights in the sky...as Crows gang up on a Hawk invading their air space. It was fun to watch from the tractor as the crows actually took turns dive bombing the hawk and finally driving it away....just like the fighter dog fights you see in the old war movies. Anyone else ever see crows do that..?

Carl_NH · Jul 11, 2010

Yep - Crows are very protective of their area. When I hear the crows squawking I know they are up to something either hawks or fox chasing.. One morning sitting on the patio I hear all the crows getting closer and closer, next thing I see a red fox running through the yard with them in pursuit dive bombing the fox.

Same thing with the hawks they chase them from tree to tree - usually 5-6 crows take after the hawk until it leaves the area. The screech the hawks make drive all the local chipmunks into their holes too. But with the abundance of wildlife its all about balance in nature.