RS Hawk Nails Cattle Egret


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Posted by Bob Showler on 09:42:57 11/07/07

On Sunday, Nov. 4, Christi Carmichael and I saw a Red-shouldered Hawk near the old post office in Flamingo. The hawk was flying low over the road, and flapping with great effort, with a Cattle Egret in its talons. It finally crash-landed in the coastal prairie to the north of the road. It regrouped and lifted off again, with the egret still in its talons. The hawk & egret finally disappeared in a thicket of trees a hundred yards or so away.

While individual weights of these birds can vary quite a bit, the Red-shouldered seems to average around 1.5 pounds and the Cattle Egret seems to average a little over a pound.

We were pretty surprised to see the hawk carrying such a load!



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