Saw a Buteo jamaicensis close up today *graphic photos*

[BGalloway]

So I was walking around campus handing out fliers to a school event when my friend waves me over to the side of a building. The building is weirdly shaped and makes this little out of the way grassy field, and right at the side of the building is a red tailed hawk eating a duck! It was so awesome! We see them all the time around here but this one was just chilling out on the ground, eating, with about 15 people around him all taking pictures!

Needless to say this beauty made my day, even more so when he nearly hit some headphones-and-baseball-hat guy while flying off, the guy didn't notice a thing!

I'll post pictures if people want them, didn't want to post them first and have people get upset because there's blood and a dead duck.

 

[spykerherps]

Sounds cool, Hay I don't see a problem with it . Its the circle of life.

 

[Next Level Geckos]

PICTURES please

 

[leoman777]

thats awesome! when i was at school i saw a red tail hawk attack and eat a rabbit lol and he left a rabbit leg in the grass!! it was awesome!!

 

[Mel&Keith]

You can post the pics. I can add a graphic photo warning to your thread title if you'd like, just pm me.

 

[snowgyre]

I would love to see pictures!!

 

[BGalloway]

Pictures aren't the best, we tried to stay back and not disturb the bird.

Some guy actually went up to the duck carcass afterward and took some feathers, I would have gotten pictures of that too but I wasn't thinking of it.

 

[Mel&Keith]

Those aren't graphic at all. LOL I don't think you'll have to worry about anyone being offended. Keith loves Red Tailed Hawks, I told him about this and he thought it was so cool!

 

[BGalloway]

It was cool, the best part is that stuff like this happens all the time around here. Usually you don't see a hawk eating, but you can find "leftovers" all over campus.

I guess my memory was more graphic than the pictures, we got to see intestines pulled out and everything (it was like avian CSI after the hawk flew away), the red tail went straight for the nutrient rich viscera.

 

[Halley]

That's awesome!

 

[paulnj]

Glad to see you enjoy nature! Indeed raptors love the high protein parts of the prey when prey is in abbundance. They eat the whole prey when prey is low.

 

[BGalloway]

Well its spring and there's more than enough, ducks, rabbits, squirrels, opossum, voles, moles, and even more squirrels hanging around campus getting fat so hawks can go for just the tasty bits.

 

[paulnj]

Right on..

Redtailed hawks don't migrate far, if at all, in my area. Those that did migrate are coming back right now.

 

[mariex4]

na thats not affending at all you cant see blood and the hawk eating it just looks like a blob lol

 

[erik]

It's been my biggest passion for years, birding. Don't get to go out too often lately, I do like watching the ones that cross my path. Those are sweet pictures. I marveled at the Golden Eagles in CO when I was there. My biggest frustration is that I didnt get to see a Bald Eagle the whole month i was there (July 2000)