Subject: [Tweeters] Re: large prey for Sharp-shinned Hawk >> Pileated Wdpkr
Date: Nov 21 13:39:22 2006
From: Paul Hicks - phicks at accessgrace.org


Tweets,
Oct '05 I watched an immature Sharpie make three passes at a Pileated Wdpkr.
A braver soul than I! I'm guessing better judgment came with maturity, if
he/she ever lived that long!
--Paul Hicks
Tenino
phicks AT accessgrace.org

---- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Kozma" <jkozma AT charter.net>
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 21:00:26 -0800
When I was a kid, my Dad had tumbling pigeons, slightly smaller versions of
a
Rock Dove that actually did backward somersaults in the air. Anyway, we
would
let them fly around the yard and they would always return to the coop. Well,
a
Sharp-shinned Hawk came through the yard one day and chased a pigeon,
overtook
it in mid air, grabbed it with its feed then glided down to the front of the
house and landed in the middle of our road with the pigeon. I rushed to the
front of the house and the Sharpie took off. The pigeon recovered with a few
puncture marks, but the none the worse for wear, if not a little shaken up.
If
I hadn't been there, it most likely would have dispatched the pigeon with a
bite to the neck and then consumed what it could. Seems like Sharpies like
to
consume their prey where they catch it, unlike other raptors that will carry
their prey to a safer perch. Hence the reason why I find the remains of
completely plucked birds on the lawn. Therefore, they will and can probably
take larger birds that they are unable to carry.

Jeff Kozma
Yakima
----- Original Message -----
From: Dennis Paulson/Dick Logan
To: Tweeters
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 5:02 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] large prey for Sharp-shinned Hawk

This forwarded from Dick Logan of Olympia, who's not on tweeters. A robin
seems at the large end of prey for a Sharp-shinned Hawk, so I suspect it was
a
female sharpie.

From: Dbirdy61 AT comcast.net
Date: November 18, 2006 9:24:14 PM PST
To: dennispaulson AT comcast.net (Dennis Paulson)
Cc: Mark_logan_seattle AT yahoo.com (Mark Logan)

Hi Dennis
We had an interesting incident this afternoon I thought you might be
interested in. We were raking leaves in the back about three when a robin
started singing in the Doug fir about 15 feet away between us and the house.
Suddenly there was an explosion of feathers and a Sharp-shinned Hawk fell
out
of the tree on top of the robin. It stood on the body looking at us for a
minute or so and then began to fly away from us and toward the house. The
robin
was so heavy that the poor hawk could neither gain enough elevation to get
over
the house or turn sharply to the left and consequently ran into the house.
The
hawk and robin once again fell to the ground. Then the hawk jumped up and
flew
off. I went over to see how the robin was doing but alas it was dead. Left
the
robin there and went into house but the sharpie never came back. So much for
that lunch idea.
Cheers
Dick Logan