A Northern Shoveler is unusually large prey for a Prairie Falcon but this young female pulled off the kill in spectacular fashion.
1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
Way back in November of 2012 I watched as she killed the duck out on the water of the Great Salt Lake and then patiently waited for it to wash ashore so she could enjoy her hard earned meal. It’s bordering on too large for her to pluck out of the water and fly with and she knew it.
As she began to eat the waves kept washing over the duck and disturbing her feeding routine so here she’s attempting to drag it further away from the water. Pulling the duck over the large rocks was extremely difficult for her so she really struggled which made for many interesting photos. Last night I ran across this one that I’ve never posted before so I thought it deserved to see the light of day.
I was lucky enough to photograph the entire process from the original kill out on the water until much later when she had consumed most of the duck. I documented that experience eight years ago and most veterans of Feathered Photography have seen that post or another one similar to it. But if you’re fairly new to my blog and you have the interest the original post can be seen here. That was early in my blogging career so the text isn’t particularly well written but I think some of the photos are spectacular.
This experience was among the two or three most memorable I’ve had in the field in 13 years of photographing birds. It’s seared so indelibly into my memory I don’t even need the photos to remember it well.
But I’m glad I have them anyway.
Ron
Smart, beautiful, and strong — what a falcon! And so young too. (Yes, I went back to the 2013 post. 🙂 ) That is some determination! I can see exactly why those images are seared into your memory.
I have a soft spot for any falcon — my dad drove a white with red interior ’61 2-door 3-on-the-tree. I loved that car. He’d let me shift when we were on the mountain roads. I was 3. Drove my mother crazy, which was a bonus! 😂 Joe Friday also drove a Falcon on Dragnet — my favorite show as a kid.
Marty, I got my first driver’s license when I was 15 by passing the driving part of the test in my uncle’s Ford Falcon which he let me borrow for the test. Good memories.
That is one determined and very, very smart bird. She earned that meal. She really earned that meal.
And of course I went back to the original post as well. I have been following your posts for eight years? Eight wonder and education filled years…
I think you’ve been following for even longer than that, EC. Much appreciated too.
As your photos attest, especially the Prairie Falcon waiting for its prey to come ashore, birds and animals in general continually surprise us with their intelligence, although our surprise is perhaps more indicative of our limitations of understanding other species.
This post and all the links reminds one that birds are beautiful and beauty is the beast.
Well said, Lyle.
Why is it I always think Prairies‘ faces look so “sweet” — even when posing with their kill? (Not the same for Peregrines, who always look fierce.) I love the pics of her with her wings up, ready to move the meal to a better dining spot. Incredible series from 2012, Ron, well worth revisiting!
They both always look pretty fierce to me, Chris. Thanks.
Nice to revisit. They are a wonderful capture.
Thank you, April.
No wonder this series is seared in your memory! That’s a yeah, DUH! The whole series is spectacular from both the sheer beauty and the behavioral standpoints. I wasn’t around eight years ago, so this is new to my old eyes!
On the behavioral front, the prairie’s sheer tenacity is remarkable, especially when paired with her patience. Raptors aren’t known for their patience, but it’s there when necessary. She had a fine meal waiting for her and she was NOT going to leave it, PERIOD. And she wasn’t doing anything stupid like putting her survival at risk by trying to haul that duck to her dining table. Instead, she waited, and waited, albeit not always that patiently for the lake to eventually serve it up. Only then did she use her energy to move it farther up the rocks. Then, let the feast begin! There’s some significant intelligence there!
My favorite of this series is the one where she’s looking right at you, wings spread. I hear that as a challenge in the context of “You want a piece of me? Bring it on stupid, ugly two-legged!” (No offense intended. We’re all stupid, ugly two-leggeds from THEIR perspective!)
And that she lost another meal to a bald eagle speaks both to her intelligence (not risking her life unnecessarily) and to why I’m not a big fan of bald eagles. Yes, thievery is a valid method of food acquisition, but it’s not all that noble. I’ll leave the parallel to the reverence we Americans hold for that symbol for another day. Give me a golden any day of the week!
The gut shot might offend some people, but I’ve always been struck by how raptors remove the entrails (and other icky bits) with a (usual) surgical precision! It’s amazing to watch. Sometimes they eat some or all of the intestines, but mostly they reject them.
And to those who would be offended, I’d ask, how is this different from your chicken dinner? Oh yeah, you didn’t have to put your life on the line to catch it and somebody else removed the icky bits so you can have a prettily wrapped and sanitized meal. DARGH! Sorry, but that ALWAYS ignites a fuse in my intelligence! We humans are SO disconnected from the reality of our food production! /but that’s a rant for another day 😉
Her sheer beauty? I could ramble on about that for a while, but y’all know most of what I’d say, but YOWZER! She’s a looker! I’ve wanted to fly a prairie, particularly a tiercel (male), and while I now live in a perfect place to do that, health issues and age have probably ended that dream. I’ll stick with HAHAs for the moment and see what the future brings.
Thanks, Laura. I suspect she’d already used this strategy successfully several times in the past, which is pretty impressive for a young bird.
What a wonderful shot. As a relative newcomer, it was also great to see the original series. Seems that falcon definitely knew what it was doing!
Yup, she was a very very smart bird, Cathy.
WOW! Fortunately nothing else was around to try and steal her hard earned meal! 🙂 Of note for me is eating the neck first which seems to be what the hawks do here when they get a chicken – curious………
Judy, on another day I watched as an adult Bald Eagle stole a duck from a Prairie Falcon in this same area. It may have been the same falcon as in these photos.
Too funny Ron. I started my response after only a sip or two of my coffee and was immediately taking exception to the story. I have seen a Northern Harrier take away a kill from a Prairie Falcon and chase it away so I thought there is no way a PF could kill a Northern Harrier. Luckily I took a couple more sips and started over and discovered that it was a North SHOVELER not a Harrier. I would have been very embarrassed had I posted my response.:)
But the Northern Shoveler was indeed a remarkable kill for a Prairie Falcon and quite a feat to get it to shore to consume it as well.
I was not a follower 8 years ago so I went back and looked at that post and was amazed at what an outstanding series of photos you took.
Ha, I’ve learned to never comment publicly on anything in the morning until I’ve had at least one full cup of coffee – for exactly the reason you mention.
Yes – I think that should definitely be a rule for all of us 🙂
Everett, Prairie Falcons are among the fiercest hunters and fastest flyers. A female Prairie could indeed kill a Harrier, who is not as powerful nor as maneuverable. If they get irritated, which they easily do, they will go at anything. But there is more meat on a Shoveler! And fewer armaments. I’ve never flown a Prairie, as a falconer, but I have friends who wouldn’t hunt with anything else. Several of the falcons I knew were killed by Red-tails or by Golden Eagles.
WOW! And yes, LOTS of coffee is necessary before asking too much of my brain in the morning……
I really like the direct gaze. I revisited the older post as well. 🙂
Good. Thanks, Arwen.
I remember a posting similar – did you have a photo of the falcon waiting for the duck to wash ashore. Memories!
Mark, yes there’s two or three photos like that in the post I linked to in my text.
I had not seen this blog posting before…not a pretty site with my morning coffee. I am amazed at the patience the falcon had to wait out the float to shore…one very hungry bird. There certainly are certain episodes like this that stick in our memories that like you said ‘photos not required’ as if you can just visualize the scene. Thanks for sharing this.
Kathy, to this day I’m blown away by her hunting strategy, especially since she was a young bird.
I relished your first post and have revisited it many time. It showed to me that birds are capable of planning quite complex series of events. It seems even researchers are finally understanding bird brains to a greater extent and expanding their opinions of what kinds of mental capabilities birds have. The way they exceed our capacities in some areas is even recognized now.
Thanks for this great photo of the smart and plucky female prairie falcon.
“Smart and plucky” is a very good way to describe her. Thanks, Pam.