[rlmorel]

I saw a very large red tail hawk on the ground outside my office, and it had a pretty large rabbit in it talons as it stood on the ground.

The GIF below shows little scale reference, but I have to say it was not only the largest red-tail hawk I have ever seen (likely a female) it was one of the most dramatically and beautifully marked. Its size gave it nearly an eagle-like look when it had its wings fully extended as shown below.

And it wasn't a little bunny she was carrying away-it was a fully grown, large rabbit.

I pulled my phone and walked slowly towards it. I have been around enough birds to know that when they have real food in their talons, they will not give it to either attack you or to fly away. They will stand their ground with their catch, staring you down as you approach.

If you get too close, they will not attack you, but will instead try to fly away with their prey to eat it somewhere else. (They only go after prey they think they can subdue and fly away with, so this tendency raptors have to fly away with their prey before attacking you as you approach is no surprise)

Even knowing this, I approached slowly and with caution, even then not getting too close, but close enough to get a great video with the phone.

When it deemed I was close enough...it picked up the rabbit and flew into the air away from me. It labored to get it off the ground, like a heavily loaded transport plane.

As she flies away, it might be hard to see-her left talon was firmly grabbing the head of the rabbit, likely one of them going into the eye socket to get a firm grip.

The right talon however, had a much more tenuous grip, and she was in danger of dropping her prey. But she deftly repositioned her grip to stabilize her burden, and was able at the end to fly up and away.

That was an expert hunter there.

My theory is some large bird fished it out of the ocean, got it in its talons, was flying home to feed its chicks, and had to drop it because it bit it or it wriggled loose!

[Red Badger]

We see Red Tails and Ospreys and the occasional Bald Eagle around here fetch Mullets out of the bay..............

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Cool video. I once saw a golden eagle try to kill a mule deer fawn, but another deer chased the eagle off. This was near Eureka, Nevada, in 1988. Of course I didn’t have a cell phone back then.

Last fall I shot a dove in Arizona; it was still fluttering a bit as I walked over to pick it up, and when I was about 15 feet away a Cooper’s hawk swooped across the ground, grabbed the dove, and flew off. Two days later and about 50 yards from that spot, I saw what was likely the same hawk take a Gambel’s quail out of a covey on the ground. Great little predator.

[garryowenartillery]

Had the big female RedTail at our place hit our full grown tomcat out in the yard...rolled into a heap on the ground, disengaged and went to a tree roost nearby...cat was pierced through in several places and died the next day....quite a scene....she’s big too, the size of many eagles we see around here...they just took the wheat across the road, turning it into her kill zone

[Red Badger]

I caught an Electric Ray in my cast net one time on the beach. I mistook it for a Guitar Fish or similar species, since Electric Rays are not usually found this far north. I grabbed it with both hands to toss it back in the Gulf and it knocked me on my ass in front of dozens of beach goers that were watching!..............