Redtail Hawks in battle

[Field King]

Sitting on back porch enjoying Tuedays spring weather when 2 Redtail Hawks crashed into battle in mid air, came crashing to the ground in a bean field by the house and the fight lasted over 1/2 hour, the hawk on top dominated the whole time finally killing his opponent, another hawk circled above, I am guessing it was the female? I was able to get some pics from about 8 feet away, here are a few!

 

[.452browning]

Wow. That's nuts. I have never seen hawks fight to the death. I have seen them show dominance to one another and one flees, but never a fight to the death.

 

[oldschoolevo]

that is crazy you will probly never see that again. and to get within 8 feet of them is cool.ive never seen them fight to the death before, im glade you got some pic. the one still in the air, she must really have some good stufffff

 

[Field King]

a few neighbors gathered and took pics also, I wish I would have ran back in for the video camera! My pics do not do it justice, the one on bottom was bleeding bad and got picked apart pretty good! Note in the pics they have a claw locked together during the fight!

 

[OWGEM]

Never heard of such a thing, great story and photos.

 

[shooter521]

Probably a territory dispute that got out of hand. I've heard of instances where the loser was seriously wounded and later found dead, but never one that was ended with lethal force right then and there.

 

[Hunter66]

That's a trip I've never heard of anything like that.wonder if they were fighting of the female

 

[Mike H]

Thats awesome. Thanks for sharing.

 

[bradw266]

Great pictures, thanks for posting.

 

[SteveL]

I too am surprised to hear this, I was not aware they fought to the death, I'm assuming this incident was a rare occurrence. I used to catch sparrow hawks and red tails back in my early twenties, just to see them up close, I would release them after looking for ID tags or other signs of human intervention. They are very impressive up close, and somewhat intimidating too...smiles.

Steve L

 

[Redskinsfan]

Wow, that is quite a sight to have beheld. Good pictures, thanks for sharing.

Terry

 

[SockMonkey]

Wow! That would have been a sight to see. And kudos to you for getting your camera (and in time) so you could share!

 

[Bigc177]

Battle on!

We have Redtail battles in our back yard too! This big ole male is very protective of his mate and nest.

The kids and I were out in the backyard last week and saw the male, and what I assumed was another male battle in the woods. It was crazy, cause they'd fight mid-air for a minute or two, then purch back on a limb for a breather, then go at it again... This went on for a good 15 to 20 minutes

 

[Zoub]

They must have had the victory celebration meal at my place this morning. Some fur, flesh and blood on my truck's passenger side window tells me it was squirrel for breakfast.

 

[jlm223]

Very cool, Thanks for posting the pics.