Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management What Sort of Bird is This?

So I put the game camera over a dead Canada Goose and these pics and videos were quite cool to find. Much more so than the three dogs and a house cat that came out to partake.

I am not sure what this is and would appreciate help in identifying it. My best guess from pics I found online is a red-tailed hawk. What do you guys think?

This is a really awesome picture:



A different angle:



First video clip:



Second video clip:

Red tailed hawk. You got it.

I imagine that dead Canadian Goose just fell down dead on it own volition?

Yeah it's that old playing opposum thingy.

Thanks, buddy! What a powerful looking bird it is.

You know, it's just the most amazing thing, Dwight. I sure can't figure it out!

Or at least it was right up until the point the hawk, the Australian Heeler, the bloodhound, the beagle, and the housecat ate him. It was apparently a very convincing act!

Todd,

Wow what a regal bird. Not sure if you know this but we taxidermists are not allowed to mount them here in the states for personal use even if they are found dead. They can only be mounted for educational institutions. I have seen some mounts that were done well of hawks, eagles, and snowy owls and they were awesome.

In Canada you can mount them as long as you can prove they were not shot (with an x-ray). Just another antiquated law here in the U.S. that won't be changed.

I have a friend that is a trained (in more ways than one - see below) as a birds of prey rescuer ect. After training with them for some time and getting approved he can catch/rehabilitate ect . On one of his first calls out on an injured red-tail hawk (hit by a car) he was not paying close enough attention and the terrified hawk planted his talons in the guy's forearm. Once closed they lock and you can't get them loose. Lucky for him the bird was critically injured and died quickly.

You got that right, Cecil. My wife and I were both amazed by it when we saw the picture. Truly an awesome bird. Didn't realize they couldn't be mounted. Interesting and certainly antiquated sounding, but I suppose, in a roundabout way, understandable to encourage compliance with laws protecting them.

That's something else, Eric. Unfortunate for the bird that it died, but lucky for your friend, for sure! That would have to be very interesting work, training them and such. I bet it's a real feeling of accomplishment.

A friend of a friend that runs a trout hatchery in Michigan rehabilitates all kinds of birds. She took in her first and last Great Blue Heron. Too dangerous she says. It drilled her forehead going for one of her eyes perhaps. Very quick at it too.

I've been told if you get to close to an injured or trapped GBH they will go for your eyes. But I'm can't verify that. A trapper also told me a friend tried to release one out of a muskrat trap, and the bird punctured one of his eyes leaving him blind in one eye. I can't verify that either but it sounds plausible.

Putting a game camera on a gut pile leads to some cool pics to include these two red tailed hawks...

When I was in Wy. antelope hunting, I came across a feather from a Bald Eagle. I picked it up and my cousin said "Look at it, and then drop it. I don't want to be bailing you out of jail if you're caught with it."

He was right. A friend also rehabs raptors, and she said that without the proper permits, (and IF you can get them) you can get in deep doo-doo.

Did you know that a turkey vulture is also considered to be a raptor, and falls under the same regs as hawks, owls and eagles?

Didn't know that Scot but I did know they are protected. We actually had a rehabilitator arrested here in Indiana but it was never clear why.

I think I know about that one. What I heard is that the permit ran out and it never was renewed..... Not declined, just never re-applied for the permit.

But law enforcement made a big deal out of it. Someone volunteers to do something and they get in trouble because of a lousy piece of paper?

Neat shot, Travis!

In your guys back yard:

http://www.wvec.com/marketplace/microsite-content/eagle-cam.html

I watched an interesting program on Discovery (I think) about raptors. They were studying them to come up with possible enhancements to the new F-35 fighter jet.

One day I passed by a headless barred owl standing by the road. I backed up to see how he was still standing up, and saw his head was not missing, but upside down. Apparently, he flew into a power line and it made his vision inverted. Amazing neck, being able to invert and twist it around like that. I brought him home and rehabbed him in my shop. Every day, his head straighted up a little, and in about 10 days it was perfect. He ate chicken liver greedily from my hand and got real healthy. When I released him, he had no problems flying. His acidic droppings left little smoking divots in my concrete shop floor, and still remind me of him. Watch out for those wires, Hootie!

Barred Owl (not Hootie)

Great story.

Since they are nocturnal, you don't see many of them.

It's amazing how many owls are out there. Working the midnight shift I see them quite often and get calls every now and then for an injured one. I even got a call one time about an owl swooping down and taking a lady's Chihuahua. Not sure what she wanted me to do about it though...

Never a Cop around when you really need one.

I see some idiot in Louisiana whacked a bald eagle and cut it's head off. There are some true idiots in the world.

Decapitated bald eagle found in Louisiana ditch

(CNN) -- A brutal, fatal case of suspected cruelty to animals is under investigation in Louisiana, the state's wildlife department said in a press release Tuesday.

The animal cruelty doesn't involve the typical household pet. This time, the United States' national bird was victimized.

Agents from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries found a beheaded bald eagle Sunday in a drainage ditch in Franklin Parish, in the northeastern part of the state, according to the release.

"To see any protected animal decapitated in a ditch is disheartening enough, let alone the animal that represents our symbol of freedom," said Capt. Alan Bankston of the wildlife department.

The agents believe the bird had been dead for a couple of days before it was found. Wildlife and Fisheries spokesman Adam Einck said the eagle was found in a very remote location, and agents are unsure if the bird was killed there, or slain somewhere else and dumped there.
Bald eagles hatch on camera

Agents are trying to schedule a necropsy to determine how the eagle died, Einck said.

Bald eagles are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Anyone who is convicted of violating those acts could be fined $5,000 and jailed for up to 18 months for each count, the state wildlife department said.

Bankston urged the public to call the department with any information about the beheading. Anyone providing information leading to an arrest or conviction would be eligible for up to $2,000 in cash rewards.

The agency's hotline number is 1-800-442-2511.



http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/04/05/louisiana.decapitated.eagle/index.html?iref=allsearch