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Yesterday nature sent a Raptor to our bird feeders
Marta was setting things out for dinner. I was turning on the laptop. I looked up and saw a female Kestrel on the ground. I knew instantly it meant we lost one of our regulars. It was a Nuthatch. During it's stay only a dove stopped by to eat, until it saw the Kestrel. It didn't stay long.
After about a half hour it left. I went out to remove the carcass.
A down side to feeding the birds. 
White-breasted Nuthatch
A common feeder bird with clean black, gray, and white markings, White-breasted Nuthatches are active, agile little birds with an appetite for insects and large, meaty seeds. They get their common name from their habit of jamming large nuts and acorns into tree bark, then whacking them with their sharp bill to “hatch” out the seed from the inside. White-breasted Nuthatches may be small but their voices are loud, and often their insistent nasal yammering will lead you right to them.
American Kestrel
Adult female
Very small with rounded head Long wings and tail Black and white facial pattern Tan wings with black markings
Kestrels are declining in parts of their range; you can help them by putting up nest boxes.
Behavior
American Kestrels usually snatch their victims from the ground, though some catch quarry on the wing. They are gracefully buoyant in flight, and are small enough to get tossed around in the wind. When perched, kestrels often pump their tails as if they are trying to balance.
11 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
But the term "bird feeder" definitely applied across the spectrum in our yard. We had frequent visits from Kestrels and what I believe is probably a Sharp-Shinned Hawk below (note the leg band).
The barred Owl post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022893002
The Barred Owl’s hooting call, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” is a classic sound of old forests and treed swamps. But this attractive owl, with soulful brown eyes and brown-and-white-striped plumage, can also pass completely unnoticed as it flies noiselessly through the dense canopy or snoozes on a tree limb. Originally a bird of the east, during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward into California.
kind of Raptor...
we have many in my area and the Peregrines are making a slow come back in these parts. We have a few Prairie Falcons in the valleys, they are amazing to watch. We do have plenty of the raptor class in my area, including eagles and several owls. Sad one of your regulars got caught but everybody's gotta eat.
Fortunately, there are lots of nuthatches, at least in my area... but we have considerable forested area so there's that.
