Red Tail Hawk Visit

A few months later, I was working in my studio when I again heard a cacophony of sounds - desperate squawking and shrieks. There, in the middle of the chicken yard stood a large bird next to a dead chicken. It was a juvenile red tail hawk. I ran to the house, grabbed my camera and returned to the scene. Approaching the hawk quietly (he didn't seem to mind), I crept closer until I was sitting within three feet of him. Then the hawk opened his feathers grandly (no doubt to ward off further encroachment) while I snapped his picture before he closed them again.

The hawk's hunger must have dominated his fear, for right in front of me he began to devour his victim. He started with the head feathers - pulling them off a few at a time and letting them drop on the ground. Then he bit into the head and started eating the brain. His greenish beak glistened with life juices as he went for the body – plunging into the belly - pulling off clumps of feathers - finding the meat. Insatiable, he swallowed large mouthfuls - feathers and all - and continued searching through the belly with his beak- pulling out organs and stretchy intestines.

It was interesting that he never used his talons to hold or pull any part of the chicken, but continued to dig in with his sharp beak while his body grew noticeably fatter. Two hours later, completely sated, he flew off across the street, beyond the orchard to a big dead snag in the wetlands. I felt privileged to have spent this intimate time with him.

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