The Hunter & The Hunted

This Sharp-shinned Hawk showed up in our neighborhood this morning in Salemtowne. Jeanette spotted it in a neighbors tree across the common area. Sharp-shinned Hawks are members of a group of hawks called Accipiters that feed on other birds.  This is a small group with only three species found in North America, the Sharp-shinned, the Cooper’s, and the Northern Goshawk.  This Sharp-shinned was not interested in the sunflower seeds in our feeder, but in the birds that would be at our feeder. This hawk is a hunter, and the pretty little song birds that I have written about of late, the Finches and the Juncos are the hunted. I believe this was a female, and she left after a short time as our yard was empty of any little song birds, and it was afternoon before any brave ones appeared.