Bird on Bird Violence – Nature at its Worst

This past weekend, as I was flipping through the early morning shows listening to the latest squawking on political “news,”  I thought I heard my husband opening our back door after returning home from errands.  My precocious pup, Brody, flew to the back door and started barking.   I peeked out the front window to search for our car to but it was nowhere in site.  Brody and I have “heard” many noises previously but we have come up empty and thought this was another case of hearing things that aren’t there.   I would soon discover I was so wrong.

When I took Brody out for his walk, I came across this (picture).  A pile of  scattered feathers lay scattered across my backyard in front of my well-visited bird feeder.   I knew instinctively what happened and felt a huge knot in the pit of my stomach.

A hawk had been been hanging around our yard for a few days.  He saw his chance and swooped down to kill one of the many doves that  also hang out in my yard.    As I leaned in to view the feathers closer,  I noticed tiny spots of blood on the feathers but no body.   The dove had been plucked clean and the body was taken away by the hawk.   If you know how they kill or have seen a hawk kill a bird,  you can’t forget the gruesomeness of it.   Hawks pull out feathers while sitting on top of the victim holding them by their claws. One by one they pull out the feathers and will eat them alive.   They usually fly away with their kill.

As Brody and I headed back to the door to enter the house,  I now knew what the noise was that we heard earlier.  There were feathers on the back porch and the screen door.   The dove flew into it while trying to escape.   When birds go into a panic,   they will sometimes fly into a window not realizing what it is.    The dove may have been stunned by flying into the screen door which made him vulnerable to the hawk.

I love birds!   I’ve had pet doves and other birds and ducks.   Since my backyard is a wildlife habitat,   I enjoy seeing bluebirds, cardinals, houses finches, gold finches, blue jays, robins, morning doves, hummingbirds, tree swallows and more at my feeders, birdbaths, bird boxes,  ponds, trees and hedges – an intersection for all things wild.

Hawks are birds of prey who kill to eat and for survival.   It’s part of the food chain.  It’s nature.   They help to weed out the weaker and older birds by killing them.   Despite knowing this,  I hate to see it.  I can’t watch nature programs when animals go “in for the kill.”   It’s too graphic for me.  I did watch those shows at one time but now I have to change the channel.

Having a wildlife habitat is great to see nature at its best but you will be subjected to see it at its worst.   To stop the hawks circling my yard,  I could have all the amenities removed or stop feeding birds for a period of time which is what we did temporarily.    You may not see the kill but the remnants of feathers scattered in a circle are the telltale sign of what transpired.

Hawks aren’t only deadly to birds, predatory birds are known to hunt small animals including small dogs, puppies, cats and kittens, rabbits, guinea pigs, pet ducks and chickens.   It is especially true on the East Coast this year which is why pet owners have been advised to protect their pets when outsid

It’s important to provide cover for a small pet that is outside for a period of time to thwart an attack from a bird of prey.    It’s suggested not to have a backyard wildlife habitat if you have small pets.   As you can tell they attract birds of prey.

While nature in all its glory is beautiful,  it also brings out the beast even in the most majestic birds of prey.

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