Apparently the back of the duck was eaten first and the bird had been
flipped over and there were pick marks at the breast meat. The head was
still attached and intact. It was a very foggy morning but it may have been
clear and bright earlier in the night. I think it probably was not an owl
unless it was killed by one and then scavenged by something else .
Tracee Geernaert
tracee at iphc.washington.edu
International Pacific Halibut Commission
PO Box 95009
Seattle, WA 98145-2009

>One can tell a lot about the nature of the predator by the condition of the
>bird. Owl, eagles, hawks, falcons and coyotes are all possibilities here
>and each will dismember and consume the prey differently. Owls tend to
break
>their prey into chunks and swallow these whole. Hawks and especilly falcon

>pick at their prey. Often, only the breast has been eaten, leaving the
rest
>of
>the bird laid out on its back. Coyotes gnaw on medium sized prey items
>usually chewing off the head first. Coyotes leavings tend to be sloppy
>piles of feet and feathers.

>As to night hunting, was it a full moon? new moon? clear night? cloudy
night?
>Diurnal raptors, especially the obligately visual (or nearly so) falcons
would
>be unlikely to hunt except on the brightest of nights.

--
*********************************** I was of three minds
* Mike Patterson, Astoria, OR * like a tree
* mpatters at orednet.org * in which there are three
blackbirds.
*http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters* -Wallace Stevens