[birdky] The Food Chain in Action
- From: Melissa Easley <melissaeasley1@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: BIRDKY <birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 18:53:04 -0500
Driving along the levee on the Mississippi River in Fulton Co. Ky. today
Hap and I pulled along side a Red-tailed Hawk on the ground encircled by
downy white feathers. It was obviously feeding on another avian species.
It eyed us for about a minute. As it flew away with the capture in its
beak, we identified the "kill" as a juv. Cooper's Hawk with dangling yellow
legs, a barred tail, and the leavings of probable dark streaked and white
breast feathers on the ground. There was also one tail feather with a white
band at the end. Assuming the Red-tailed ate all of the Cooper's including
its legs, that is 1/3 of the Red-tail's weight. Imagine eating one third of
your weight in one meal.
Melissa and Hap
Murray, Ky.
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