Red-tailed hawk attacks, kills family's dog

[Donna]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/30/hawk-kills-dog/19703919/ 

[MAK]

 

[patsy6]

 

[Donna]

Can a RTH actually lift a 7 lb dog??? 

[carly]

Can a RTH actually lift a 7 lb dog??? 

  I've picked up deceased RTH's on the rooftops here and no way they could pick up a 7lb animal.  They range in weight from 1.5 to 3.5 lbs.  So even if this was one at the 3.5 lb range, how could it pick up a 7lb dog?  It may have been on the ground eating something and the dog attacked it and it used it's talons to defend itself..but I'll eat my hat if it got airborne with a dog.

[NoraH]

I thought this was interesting on page #222

BEHAVIOR AND FOOD HABITS OF THE RED-TAILED HAWK
By HENRY S. FITCH, FREEMAN SWENSON
and DANIEL F. TILLOTSON

https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v048n05/p0205-p0237.pdf

Prey brought to the nest consisted entirely of mammals, birds, and reptiles. Rodents
and rabbits comprised all the mammals. The birds were of various sorts, having little
in common except that nearly all were larger than sparrows but smaller than the hawks.
The reptiles included snake and lizard species in equal numbers, although the lizards
were slightly more numerous in individuals. The 625 prey items’comprising the three
years’ records and pertaining to fourteen different nests were of 23 species, in the following
numbers: 380 ground squirrels (Citellus beecheyi), 79 pocket gophers (Thomomys
bottae), 62 cottontails (Sylvilagus auduboni), 13 wood rats (Neotoma fuscipes),
10 kangaroo rats (Dipodomys heermanni), 8 chipmunks (Eutamias mewiami), 3 rock
mice (Peromyscus truei), 2 gray squirrels (Sciurus griseus) , 1 brush mouse (Peromyscus
boy&), and 1 meadow mouse (Microtus californicus) ; 11 quail (Lofdzortyx CU.&
jornicus) ,4 jays (Apkelocoma coerulescens) ,3 towhees (Pipilo fuscus) , 1 road-runner
(Geococcyx califorrzianus), 1 screech owl (Otus asio) , 1 kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis),
1 lark sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) , 1 unidentified bird ; 17 whiptail lizards (Cnemidop&us
tesseZa.tus) , 14 gopher snakes (Pituophis ca.tenifer) , 8 skinks (Eumeces
gilberti), 2 rattlesnakes (CrotaZus viridis) , 1 fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis),
1 sharp-nosed snake (Rhinocheilus Zecontei) .

[NoraH]

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/lifehistory

Mammals make up the bulk of most Red-tailed Hawk meals. Frequent victims include voles, mice, wood rats, rabbits, snowshoe hares, jackrabbits, and ground squirrels. The hawks also eat birds, including pheasants, bobwhite, starlings, and blackbirds; as well as snakes and carrion. Individual prey items can weigh anywhere from less than an ounce to more than 5 pounds.