Thursday, October 05, 2006

Predator

Any ideas what kind of predator got this bird? Art found this heap of feathers this morning (6AM) in the front yard near the pine trees and the basketball hoop. The pile was actually more compact than is pictured, as the breeze had picked up and tussled them a bit. There was no blood, no tissue, no beak or feet. Only a compact pile of feathers.

Robin breast feathers?

9 comments:

MojoMan said...

Well, you did show those great photos of a coopers hawk...

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

mojoman-

We wondered about the coopers hawk. I've seen her catch several birds in our yard, but she always flies off to eat- in fact I don't think I've ever seen a hawk eat. Would the coopers hawk have sat on the ground to pluck the bird?

Susan Gets Native said...

Yes, a coop would sit on the ground to pluck, and then go to a perch to eat (hence no other body parts).
As far as the feathers...could be a robin, and the larger feathers could be from the coop itself.
Cool bit about coops: They will sometimes hold prey under water to drown it. Whoa.
But since it was found first thing in the morning, I wonder if the prey was a screech owl? A coop would enjoy one of those.
Who knows...but it's great that your property is supporting at least one large predator! That means you are doing something right.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Mourning Dove feathers to me! Hawks love them because they are slow.

Susan said...

I hate to find things like this. Last year we had a pair of northern flickers raising babies & I found a heap of those beautiful yellow feathers near the nest. The mother, as it turned out. We watched Daddy feed the babies by himself for days, but one day when we didn't see him, we chopped into the tree to get to the nest and found both babies dead. Sad.

Rondeau Ric said...

I agree that it probably was a coopers.
I have seen them eat. If they are undisturbed, they will pluck and eat in the same place. After it finish I watched it fly into a tree and just sit.
Perhaps digesting or maybe waiting for the next meal.

daringtowrite said...

Beautiful in a sad sort of way. An authentic nature poem.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Wenda-

The coopers hawk that frequents our yard is such a magnificent bird, but the songbirds that I feed and watch every day are also magical. I can't help but have feelings for both. I tell myself that the hawk is taking birds that are weak or slow or injured- birds that would not likely migrate successfully, or manage our cold Minnesota winters.

Thanks for your input- helped me to think. :)

LauraHinNJ said...

Always such a mystery to find a pile of feathers like this!

Too bad it wasn't a starling.