Cooper's Hawk eating a Sparrow

[RetroLounge]

This was taken out the window here at work yesterday.

Some employees put bird feeders around our patio and the Sparrows have come in huge flocks.

It was only a matter of time before the hawks followed and discovered the sparrow buffet...

The great circle of life continues...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vFjmXf-7y0

RL

[hedgehog]

1. The same thing happens at my parent's bird feeder.

My Dad calls the hawk "Cooper".

My husband was eating breakfast at a hotel with large glass windows around the dining room. He noticed a cat hanging around on the patio, looking very alert. Sure enough, a few minutes later a bird came flying "Wham!" right into the glass and broke its neck. That cat had it before it hit the ground and took off.

[cwydro]

2. Saw one with a pigeon

last week down here..."nature red in tooth and claw". Forget where that quote comes from...

[puerco-bellies]

4. My buddy could not keep koi in his pond because of hawks

He finally deepened the main pool and the hawks and raccoons had to look else where for a colorful meal. And that's right here in West Los Angeles area. Nature often finds a way to adapt to us.

On Edit: I don't proof read, and can't even spell phonetically.. sigh

[cwydro]

5. My parents had koi in a pond at their house

in Charlotte, NC and could NOT figure out where the fish kept going. One day they saw a large grey heron standing by the pond. Amazing.

[pitohui]

7. almost certainly t hey saw a great blue heron

but yeah they are grey, the name is one of the insider jokes that birders love to indulge in, i suppose

grey heron is the european counterpart

[cwydro]

9. Yes, and thank you for the correction

I actually knew that (living where I do). Must have had a senior moment...they are coming more often these days...sigh...

I love birds, though I'm really just an amateur/beginner at watching...:hi:

[XemaSab]

3. Dig the running commentary

also, I think "nature red in tooth and claw" might be Kipling.

[puerco-bellies]

6. It is quoted from Tennyson's In Memorium A.H.H. Canto LVI (yes I googled it) :-)

I thought it was from one of Linnaeus's essay's on natural history classification.

[cwydro]

11. Hey thanks...I'll go find the whole quote then

I was at work earlier and would rather DU than google...lazy me. Thank you for that.

[Katina]

8. makes me think of the Eagle & the Hawk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ArnbiHx6hk

great John Denver song, but the guy on this video is out there...

[KamaAina]

10. Cooper? Cooper? Hello?

Your hawk is eating a sparrow. Please come make him stop. :-)

[RetroLounge]

12. The Lovesong of J. Cooper Sparrow

The Lovesong of J. Cooper Sparrow

Let us fly then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a pigeon etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted rows,
The muttering crows
the restless nights with one-night cheap guests
of gliding robins with twig-leaf nests:
Flights that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To swoop upon an overwhelming question
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us dive and make our visit.

In the nests the sparrows come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

RL

[KeyLimeDem]

13. Owl and Quaker Parrot

Down here in South florida we have a lot of Quaker Parrots. A co-worker recieved a call from his wife recently that a "hawk" came into the house, ate one of the parrots, and flew out the back porch with the bird. Then later that day his dog was barking at a pile of branches in the yard, and the dead parrot was under the branches.

Seemed like strange behavior for a "hawk" and he took to spending time in the back yard looking for the villian. Well today he noted a large Owl sitting on a branch, staring into his house for the other parrot he had. The original attack took place early in the morning. The large owl was a winter visitor to the area.

[warrior1]

14. Peregrine falcon

got my little sparrows. They have to be extra fast when they sense him.

[SoyCat]

15. Wow. That's what happened at my mom's feeder--only it was a hawk eating a birdseed-fattened dove.

[MonkeyFunk]

16. Years ago

I saw a hawk corpse and a pigeon corpse lying together on the sidewalk.

I think the hawk was a juvenile who "misjudged" the distance. But he took the pigeon out with him.