At approximately 9am on January 13, an avian act of violence occurred in a suburban backyard in eastern North America. Who was the predator and who was the prey? The following photo is your only piece of evidence beyond date, time, and location.
Leave your guesses in the comments section. The first person to correctly determine both predator and prey earns the right to spend the weekend cloaked in a shroud of smug self-satisfaction (which is honestly better than any material reward, right?)
I’ve added the answer in the comments section…
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.
But why did you eat your pet duck?
Judging from what happens at my brother’s feeders in upstate New York, I’ll guess the predator is a cooper’s hawk and the prey is a mourning dove.
I’m guessing the predator is something more nefarious than a raptor like a cat. The prey might have been a pigeon?!
Domestic duck meets fisher?
Sharp-shinned Hawk takes a Tufted Titmouse.
Domestic cat tried to catch pigeon. Pigeon got away, shedding feathers.
I also think it looks like Cooper’s Hawk & Mourning Dove.
Gyrfalcon and Willow Ptamagin.
More likely… a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Blue Jay.
A cat and a Mourning Dove
A mourning dove attacked by a were-squirrel.
Great horned owl vs: a bird with lots of white feathers, or used to have lots of white feathers!
A Cooper’s Hawk and a Collared Dove.
PREDATOR: Cooper’s Hawk
PREY: Mourning Dove
Congrats to all of you who correctly guessed both predator and prey. Kudos to those of you who guessed one and were close on the other. As for anyone who mentioned lycanthropes, I have nothing to say to you.