Mick Hardy, who lives in northern Madison County, often sends us pictures of birds from his rural location. This month he has sent us a sequence of a Cooper's Hawk doing what hawks do. Here is the story, in Mick's words:
"[The hawk] scared sparrows and juncos way down in the quince bush. Then he went in and was able to catch himself a slow one. He caught a junco and when he finished, all that was left was feathers!!"
The hawk's work is grisly, but quick. Predators such as hawks, eagles, and owls have to eat too.
As Mick observed, there wasn't much left but feathers on the ground when the hawk was done.