The day before yesterday my heart stopped when this guy dropped out of the sky like a bolt of lightning and picked off a dove. My adrenaline started pumping like crazy. Sure would have been nice to have the camcorder running at the time of the kill. It happened so fast that I was only able to notice that he had a striped tail. I could not identify other features to describe him (or her).
He swooped down this afternoon, but was not as lucky as the other day. I was extremely grateful that he stuck around long enough today for me to snap a couple of pics. I wish I knew what species he is. I've done a little poking around on the net, but I've yet to find one with a tail as long as this one is sporting. As soon as I find out what he is, I'll update this post.
*Update* Well I believe I may have identified the Hawk. My friend Sierra mentioned that its possibly a "Coopers Hawk". Some refer to this species as a "Chicken Hawk", yet in my yard, I may as well refer to him as a "Dove Hawk". After poking around on the internet, I've found that this seems to be the case. One of the Photo's I found that resembles this critter the most, is over here at the Stanislaus Audubon Societie's web page. then I was fortunate enough to find a nice audio description of the predatory habits of this bird from this "birdnote" website. Here is a sample, so click on the play button below, and enjoy!
1 comment:
I believe the bird in question is a Merlin. Note the lack of a "tear" below the eye. There appears to be a stripe above the eye. I saw a Merlin kill and eat a dove in my back yard. I had time to get my scope. Concord, Calif. See Sibey's guide page 130 & 133.
Bob Graham
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