Dinner time! (death of a sparrow)

Was on the back porch watching my feeders and happen to have the camera ... all the sudden I hear this squeal ... look out and under my chair in the back yard I see this guy ... didn't get great pictures but I only had about 10 seconds before he decided to leave ... the other birds were not happy he was there.
This is a part of nature I really don't like but do understand.

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Beautiful captures of an American Kestrel doing its thing.

2n10 wrote in post #16006880
Beautiful captures of an American Kestrel doing its thing.

Kestrel falcon ... right lol??? Or is it Kestrel Hawk???

Steve

steve_douglass wrote in post #16006954
Kestrel falcon ... right lol??? Or is it Kestrel Hawk???

Steve

Haha, let me confuse you more Steve.
It is plain and simple a Kestrel, which is a falcon that is often referred to as a Sparrow Hawk. There, you're probably scarred for life
I'm glad you appreciate the encounter you had with this raptor doing what it does best; and were able to document it in pretty darn good fashion. I have at least 2 hawks that make daily visits over my feeders and it doesn't seem to deter my Goldfinches one little bit.

I thought I had it right but I have heard of a Kestrel hawk also lol ...

Good to know about my Goldfinches .... I actually think it has to do with the T storms lately ... today I had them on my thistle socks along with more House finches then I have ever seen ... it was awesome to see this especially that close ...
I realize I broke EVERY single rule of bird photography lol ... bird flying away terrible backdrop lol ... ect .. but I am very pleased with the outcome. Maybe next time I can get him on the prowl in flight ...

Steve

I would have loved to photograph this in my backyard. Excellent documentation of the cycle of life.

nicely done Steve

Nice! Did you saw the predator coming up, or you were just shooting the birdie when *snatch* ... WOA!

Birds don't always say "cheese" for the camera . What an amazing experience of the horror of life for a sparrow but dinner for the kestrel. Thanks for sharing the story.

CamFan01 wrote in post #16007163
Haha, let me confuse you more Steve.
It is plain and simple a Kestrel, which is a falcon that is often referred to as a Sparrow Hawk. There, you're probably scarred for life
I'm glad you appreciate the encounter you had with this raptor doing what it does best; and were able to document it in pretty darn good fashion. I have at least 2 hawks that make daily visits over my feeders and it doesn't seem to deter my Goldfinches one little bit.

LOL, love the way we do our best to confuse ourselves with animal names.

Thanks everyone ... I was just watching my feeders to see what might come into the yard when I heard the squealing of the sparrow ... all the other birds freaked out as you can imagine ... Im guessing he came in pretty fast ...
Just lucky to be in the right place and to actually be able to capture this ..

I was watching the feeders today and there was a woodpecker on the suet and he kept looking up in the air and then eating ... I looked up and saw two birds pretty high up looked like they might have been falcons but didn't get a good ID ... my guess is the falcon will remember where that easy meal came from ...

Nature is brutal sometimes but the beauty far out way the moments like this with the gruesome cycle of life.

Steve

Great timing. Nice pics