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Birds of Prey at Bird Feeders are Just Nature Being Nature
The Circle of Life is Painful to Watch But in the Words of Naturist Jim Fowler "It's Just Nature Being Nature"
If you’re one of the 35 million American that faithfully stocks your bird feeders, you’ve accepted the fact that you’re going to attract more than just songbirds. Where there are songbirds, there are birds of prey.
And sometimes things can get a bit ugly.
An increasingly common sight is a hawk feasting on the birds you’re feeding.
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Mourning Our Doves
Just this last week we had the misfortune of witnessing juvenile Cooper’s Hawks hunting our Mourning Doves.
It happened so quickly, with no time to react.
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Two doves gone in milliseconds before our eyes.
Bird Feeders Cause a Frenzy
Cooper’s Hawks are relentless predators.
They’re one of three North American Accipiters or bird hawks with short, round wings and a long tail enabling it to maneuver adeptly through trees.
Look up, and you might catch a glimpse of a Cooper’s Hawk perching nearby, waiting to swoop down scattering the birds at your feeders and singling one out in flight.
Other times they pursue their prey on the ground half running and half flying.
READ: What Bird Species Would You Be?
Circle of Life
Witnessing any animal hunt is never easy, and seeing the circle of life play out before your very eyes can be quite painful.
And if you feed birds in your yard, eventually it’s bound to happen.
When it happens, as much as you’re in shock and then feeling mad, keep in mind that if you love birds that most birds of prey don’t make it their first year.
The life you saw taken helped a bird higher up the food chain survive.
Winter is the most harrowing time for raptors.
The majority of young birds of prey negotiating their first winter don’t survive because competition for resources looms large at a time when those resources are the most scarce.
Read the rest of the story here.
Go to https://intobirds.com/birds-of-prey-at-bird-feeders-are-just-nature-being-nature/to read what the late Wild Kingdom star Jim Fowler had to say about birds of prey at his feeders.
If you are into birds, then you'll love intobirds.com.
People who enjoy bird watching, appreciate birds, bird photos or reading fascinating stories about birds should visit intoBirds.com, and follow intoBirds on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
About IntoBirds
IntoBirds is an online magazine, community, and educational resource for all things birds and is based in Danbury, Connecticut, and Rosendale, New York.
