There's a new, young red tail hawk hunting in Madison Square Park. I spotted it this afternoon, in a tree, with a dead pigeon. Soon it was the remains of the dead pigeon. There were a few other people looking at it, some of whom had no idea what sort of bird they were looking at or what it was doing. I explained.There was one young woman from Indiana, walking someone else's dogs, who was pleased and astounded to see it. She left muttering about seeing wildlife in Manhattan. All she had to do was look around.
Another person asked if the hawk was eating a dove or a pigeon. I explained that they are the same. She begged to differ and left exclaiming we'd have to disagree. I told I didn't disagree, I told her I was right.*
Here's three photos.
*From the Wiktionary.org definition of "dove":
- A pigeon, especially one smaller in size; a bird (often arbitrarily called either a pigeon or a dove or both) of more than 300 species of the family Columbidae.
Wow! The pigeon looks like a fledgling or maybe even an older nestling. (They get pretty big and feathery while still in the nest.) It could also be a young mourning dove, but that's less likely. Can't help but feel sorry for it...but I do want the hawks to thrive. A pigeon is a type of dove. I think they are also called rock doves. Maybe that's a separate species from our street pigeons, but they look similar. Great sleuthing and photography! Thanks!
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