This photo was taken on the 4900 block of South Marshfield less than an hour ago.
I was walking home from church and checking my phone for some reason when I heard the thump of something hitting the ground. I put away the phone and looked up to see a dead pigeon on the sidewalk under a tree. Seconds later, the bird of prey you see above swooped down and stood on it possessively. While watching, I had no idea what kind of bird it was. I just started looking around on line and now think this bird is a Cooper's hawk.
Whoda thunk Wild Kingdom would make it to Marshfield Avenue? A van pulled up and double-parked. I walked around the van and when I looked back, the birds weren't on the sidewalk anymore. The hawk had taken the pigeon over into a neighbor's yard. It started pecking at the pigeon, sending feathers flying every which way. I went home to see if I could find any young friends with whom to share the sight.
Just as I was getting home I saw Oldest Brady Boy and Brady Bughunter coming out of their house. I called to them to come see the birds and we ran up the street. They were pretty impressed. Oldest Brady had the finals of his indoor soccer season at Davis Square Park this afternoon, so he was in uniform. His mom and other brother caught up to us and we all watched the bird eat.
"Aguilar?" Mom Brady asked. "Eagle?"
Neither Oldest Brady nor I knew the word for hawk in Spanish. If any of you recognize the bird in this photo, let me know. I'd like to know what it is.
2 comments:
It looks like a Cooper's Hawk to me. We have a lot of them out here in the exurbs. That's a wonderful picture!
Thanks! It amazed me how unfazed this bird was, calmly eating lunch while five of us stared at the sight from less than 10 feet away. I shot this photo from about five feet away and used the zoom.
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