A couple of crows were harrying this young Red-tailed Hawk in the sleet after the raptor caught a Feral Pigeon.
The raptor was unmoved by the corvids. The crows left. The sun came out. The hawk perched up there for at least half an hour before starting to pluck.
Grasping, plucking, and eating: all told, the hawk was up here nearly 90 minutes.
Absolutely stuffed with squab, the bird luxuriated in the sun with full crop, stroping the gory bill on the fire-escape metal.
About 15 minutes after the hawk left this mess…
Scavenging party!
But they didn’t get it all. The remains of the remains were up there the rest of the day and then overnight.
Some 27 hours after the original kill, crows showed up again.
This bird flew off the last of it, in one big piece.
This time, my latest Medium essay is about a hawk—this one, in fact, and associates.
Backyard and Beyond 
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