songbird said:


songbird wrote:

you'd ever expect to see chasing and eating
grasshoppers?
...

the movies didn't turn out well (using
zoom i need a tripod), but some pictures did:

http://www.anthive.com/flowers/100_8...er_Hunting.jpg
http://www.anthive.com/flowers/100_8248_Harrier_BB.jpg

i think it could be a juvenile Northern Harrier
(or a Hen Harrier), which are not particularly
rare, but this is the first time we've had one
wandering around the yard for the day.


I don't think that's a harrier. Going by the 'belly band'
it's more likely a juvenile red tail hawk.

Harrier's have a 'facial disc' something like an owl has;
they use sound as well a sight while hunting, usually
over marshland or open fields, staying barely above the
grass tops.

Grasshoppers are on lots of menus (including human).
Many species of raptors will dine on grasshoppers some
ofthe time. (Swainson's hawks dine almost exclusively on
grasshoppers on their winter range in South America.)



--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored