Goss Hawk - Bird of Prey in the Yard

My neighbor did something new this summer. She put up a bird feeder in her yard. At the beginning of the summer, I heard what sounded like a bird shop in the back of the house. I walked around to see about 30 birds fighting for a place at the feeder. It was VERY loud.


I thought it would be a passing thing and she may not add more food as she has a dog that barks continually if anyone is outside for any reason. 

Whenever she fills the feeder, there is mass noise and hysteria from the birds. I guess all that noise didn't go unnoticed by others. A hawk of some type noticed all the noise and commotion and decided to take advantage of the situation and my guess is it didn't have a very hard time catching his dinner. 

I was doing the dishes and looked up to see this site of carnage about 15 feet from my window. Frankly, I couldn't believe that a bird of prey would decide to eat so close to a human . My kitchen window is usually open so it could hear me moving about and making noise. 

As you can see, it did give me the "eye" a few times but for the most part, it ignored me and continued eating its fresh kill. 

I wish I had seen the entire sequence of events to see how it pulled the wings off and pulled off all the feathers as it left quite the mess on the grass. 

I grabbed the video camera but didn't dare speak too loud as i wanted to get it on video. You can see it clearly eating the poor recently deceased bird. 


Flash forward a few days. It is mid morning and I am hearing the birds a chirpin like they are having a feeding frenzy. Then, in an instant, there is silence. Then, I see the hawk fly low through my yard and out of eye shot from my kitchen window........

My guess, it has found a new hunting ground where there is little work to find a meal. Weird thing, I didn't hear another bird at the feeder all morning. Maybe they are figuring out it may not be in their best interest to eat for free.