Guess Who Came For Dinner

Yesterday we had a surprise visitor.

It was a cold snowy day.  Having just filled the bird feeders, I had resigned myself to the fact that we were snowed in yet again, and I might as well catch up on the laundry since it was too nasty to go outside.  Suddenly I heard my husband urgently calling from the top of the stairs, “Get up here right now!”  I went flying up the stairs to find out what was wrong.  My husband was excitedly pointing at the kitchen window and yelling “Hurry!  Get your camera!”

There in our backyard, sitting in our trusty old Hawthorn tree, was a juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk with a real prize.

After his first molt this youngster's tailfeathers will be replaced by the distinctive red tailfeathers of an adult Red-tailed Hawk

Now, this young hawk was no stranger to me.  I’ve been seeing him soaring over the neighborhood since last fall—even sitting in the branches of our big old oak tree a few times.  Earlier this week, right after an 8-inch snowfall, I saw him hurtling past our sliding glass door in pursuit of a squirrel.  Apparently he missed that time because by the time I got to the window on the other side of the house he had taken off and landed in a tree with nothing to show for his effort.  The tracks in the snow told the story of one very lucky squirrel.

This time the hawk had been more successful, because there on the branch of the Hawthorn, beneath his talons, was a freshly caught starling.  I can’t say I was too sorry for the Starling, since he and his kin have been mobbing my feeders lately and driving off the other birds.  Starlings are a non-native species that have become a real nuisance across all the U.S.

He was intent on his dinner and paid no attention to me

Since the hawk was intent on his prize I grabbed my camera and quietly slid open the sliding door just enough to get some photos.  We watched him devour the Starling--feathers, beak, feet and all.  By the time he was done there was no sign of the Starling except for a few primary wing feathers in the snow. 

He devoured his meal until not a morsel was left

Once he had finished his meal, like any polite diner, he cleaned his beak by rubbing it on the branch of the tree until all signs of his repast were cleaned off.  After a few minutes he took off and landed in our fifty-year-old white pine tree.  He sat on the lee side of the trunk (which means out of the wind), and promptly dozed off like a human after a Thanksgiving Dinner.

All cleaned up and ready for a nap

Even though I see birds of prey on a regular basis when I do volunteer work at the World Bird Sanctuary, it was a real treat to see one doing so well in the wild and to be able to watch it up close and following it’s natural instincts.  This is what motivates all of us at WBS – to see these magnificent birds healthy and free and living wild.

If you have never had the opportunity to see a Red Tailed Hawk up close, come visit us at the World Bird Sanctuary and see this youngster’s cousins—birds who, for one reason or another, were unable to be released into the wild, and now serve as education birds.

Submitted by Gay Schroer, World Bird Sanctuary volunteer