smallonion2
Sunday 31st May 2009, 15:31
This morning I awoke to a sad sight - mourning dove feathers *everywhere* all over my patio. Hundreds and hundreds of them. There has been a juvenile dove hanging around lately so I suspect it was him. We do get a lot of hawks around here (urban Philadelphia, PA) and because all the feathers were ripped off, it seems like more the work of a hawk than a cat - what do you think?
It was eerily quiet in the garden. No birds on any of my feeders, which is really unusual.
Last year, at my mother's house (a few blocks away from here), I walked out her back door and mourning dove feathers showered down from above, about 10 feet from me. I suddenly saw the hawk, perched. He had no bird in his beak, and he took off. There was no carcass on the lawn, just loads of tail feathers. The next day, I saw a mourning dove with no tail! I must have saved his life by opening the door at the exact moment the hawk was grabbing him, and as a result he only got the tail!
Based on the above, and the feathers scattered about, do you think it was likely a hawk? Jeez, it was right next to my back door!
It was eerily quiet in the garden. No birds on any of my feeders, which is really unusual.
Last year, at my mother's house (a few blocks away from here), I walked out her back door and mourning dove feathers showered down from above, about 10 feet from me. I suddenly saw the hawk, perched. He had no bird in his beak, and he took off. There was no carcass on the lawn, just loads of tail feathers. The next day, I saw a mourning dove with no tail! I must have saved his life by opening the door at the exact moment the hawk was grabbing him, and as a result he only got the tail!
Based on the above, and the feathers scattered about, do you think it was likely a hawk? Jeez, it was right next to my back door!