Red-tailed Hawk
Story of an
encounter with a hawk
As I went to get my
camera the hawk picked-up the crow and flew a short distance down the
street. The crow seemed to be a heavy load for the hawk. It never got
more than 8 feet off the ground but easily carried it about 300 feet down
the street. By the time I returned with my camera, the hawk had carried the
crow to the top of a neighbor's mailbox.
As I
walked closer, the hawk flew down to the grass near the mailbox. I caught a
photo of her as she grabbed her prey and flew down to the lawn. She started
to peck and tear at the crow and I took a couple more photos.
I moved a bit closer to get a better shot and the hawk stopped pecking and
looked at me. She didn't seem to want to fly away. Showing no fear, she
seemed to be saying,
”This is my crow! You can't have it, and I'm going to stay right here and
eat it!" So I moved just a bit closer.
I got to within about 6 feet to take some more photos trying not to disturb
her. She continued to look at me. She rustled her feathers a bit and
opened her mouth. I think she was telling me "I'm not leaving! If you
come any closer I'll fight you for this crow!" I decided this was
close enough.
Red-tailed hawks are widespread throughout the US and a majestic bird of
prey. They hunt small mammals, but occasionally take larger mammals and
other birds. Crows are very common in our area and sometimes the redwood
trees behind our house are full of them. In the winter months of 2005, I
had regularly heard and caught brief glimpses of hawks. From the frequency
of my sightings, I felt certain there must be a local nest. I tried a
number of times to get a photo of a hawk, but with no luck.
In early March of 2005, I was walking
near our house when I heard a crow in a tree making quite a fuss. I looked
down at the sidewalk below the tree and saw a hawk standing on top of
another crow! As it stood there, the hawk gripped and pecked at the
struggling crow. The crow in the tree continued to protest.
Red-tailed hawk takes off!
Red-tailed Hawk with Crow
A few more
shots of critters in
our yard.
Shooting photos of the hawk
seemed more like taking a portrait than a nature shoot. My subject saw me,
but was happy to just stand there. I took a couple more photos and slowly
backed away to leave her alone. I came back about 30 minutes later and the
hawk was gone leaving only a patch of black feathers and part of a beak
scattered on the lawn.
As I understand, it is unusual for a Red-tail to catch a crow. Why did
this one get caught? Perhaps the crows were bothering the hawk or it's
nest and she decided to fight back. I've always thought crows looked big,
but seeing the Red-tail standing on the crow that day made me realize that a
Red-tail hawk is a very impressive predator!
