Our Wild Backyard

12-19-06
One afternoon, I heard lots of bird commotion out back and looked out to find this hawk in the snow. Initially, it's positioning made me think that it had hurt its wing, but then it flew a few feet and we could see the large quail in its grip. After examining our pictures, Sheridan and I decided this was probably a Cooper's Hawk. His kill was too large for him to fly off with, so he "took care" of it in our backyard. It was fascinating to see this bird, but I couldn't watch him enjoy his meal.