Hawk refrence..Wild kingdom in my parking lot..****Caution graphic***

[Bigredcarver]

last fall I was walking out of my office and saw this hawk eating a pigeon..he must have sat there for 45 minutes..I grabbed these photos because I figure no one would believe the scene.

I don't know enough to identify the type of hawk..

[wade clark]

Great shot! I wouldn't take the pigeon away from him!
I walked nearly up to a bald eagle once, within 10', that had killed one of my chickens. He flew finally, but he didn't want to...must have been hungry! That was when we lived in Eastern Oregon, where I grew up.
Wade

[AlArchie]

Red, I looked through all my bird books and the closest I can come up with is (maybe) a local variant of the northern harrier. Colors vary so much, but the markings are close.

I'd be interested if you get a definitive ID on that bird! Nice specimine. And some great photos.....

Al

[squbrigg]

Wow, great pictures Tom. Not often you can get that close to a hawk and have them sit still for a photo.

Well done.

Bob

[Paul_Guraedy]

I hope we do get an identification on the hawk. Al, I agree that the markings are close to the northern harrier but believe the wings are more like accipters than kites. I checked my identification sources and cannot come up with a definitive identification either. General markings could be the immature of several hawks. Due to the wings, eyebrow, and location of the feeding area (northern harriers are not very common anywhere and especially in parking lot type areas) , I believe it is more likely to be a northern goshawk.

Wonderful photos and you were fortunate to witness and photograph this hawk.

[Bigredcarver]

It was really neat..for the first minute or so I didn't believe what I was seeing..I thought as soon as I walked out (about 25 feet away) he would fly off but he didn't even look up...I walked to about 10 feet and he looked up and spread out his feathers to cover his catch and I got a look at that face and decided to go back inside...he stayed there another 45 minutes untill a client drove up....

The location is the Omaha area...we see alot of similar hawks around..I never bothered to learn how to identify them because to me they are a mennus(sp?) they hurt the pheasent population...

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Someone should call PETA. From the looks of the middle photo they could also cite him for impeding traffic!! Nice photos.

"GO BIG RED" ... assume that's for OU?

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

We have one in our backyard all the time, my wife feeds the birds so he has a smorgasbord of sparrows....he doesn't seem to bother the quail or the doves or even the rabbits.....Smile

[Paul_Guraedy]

Tom, using the wings to cover or hood the prey while they are feeding is typical hawk behavior.

I spent my career in conservation, been in birding since my 20's (now 66) and don't even remember when I first started hunting. I can assure you that predators seldom hurt or signifigantly reduce the population of the prey species.

When/where does your carving club meet? I am in Papilion several times a year to visit my son and grand daughter and would like to also visit your club.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

How about a coopers hawk or sharp shinned? We did have a little sharp shinned hawk here one day, my wife thinks the other might be a coopers? http://www.ggro.org/sharpie.html