HAWKS ATTACKING BIRDS IN MY BACKYARD

HAWKS ATTACKING BIRDS IN MY BACKYARD

Thy Bun

is 

THY WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY

I follow him on Facebook and he shares the most beautiful pictures of birds and raptors.

He just posted this picture and not that this one is so beautiful (to me), but it reminds me of hawks in my backyard.

For many years I've fed the birds close enough to my house that I can observe their habits.

One time there were lots of birds on the feeders and lots on the ground eating dropped seeds.  

Suddenly, I saw EVERYONE of them suddenly fly down to the ground.  Usually, when a bird is startled, they will fly upward, but this time they flew to the ground.  I had seen them do this two or three times and thought it was unusual.

This time though, I saw a hawk suddenly swoop down and land on a dove and the hawk rocked back and forth a few times.  I'm guessing he was digging his claws in the bird so it couldn't get away.  Then, he flew up with the dove.

That wasn't fun to watch, but then I understood why the birds flew down to the ground.  I think they were making it harder for the hawk to see and attack them.

I just thought it was really interesting.