Survival of the Fittest

                                                                   
                                                                        HAWKS

1. Cooper's hawk is a medium-sized hawk native to the North American continent and found from Southern Canada to Northern Mexico. As in many birds of prey, the male is smaller than the female. 
3. Scientific name: Accipiter cooperii
4. Rank: Species
5. Higher classification: Accipiter

                VS

1. The sharp-shinned hawk is a small hawk described from Hispaniola, with males being the smallest hawks in the United States and Canada, but with the species averaging larger than some Neotropical species, such as tiny hawk.
3. Scientific name: Accipiter striatus
4. Mass: 1.8 – 0.25 lbs (Male)
5. Wingspan: 17 – 23 in. (Male)
6. Length: 9.1 – 12 in. (Male)
7. Rank: Species
8. Lower classifications: Puerto Rican sharp-shinned hawk
9. Higher classification: Accipiter

"Mom, come look quick, look at this" Baby Bird cried out to me on Mother's Day morning--I rushed out to the breakfast nook with no idea of what I would see, she pointed to the railing of the deck about 20-25 feet away was a hawk pulling the feathers from a smaller bird which looked to be  robin--By the time we arrived nothing much remained of the robin, appeared to be just a skeleton and feathers, but the hawk continued to strip off all the feathers and then flew up into the big cottonwood tree above the deck and from there it flew off over the rooftop of the house behind  ours

Though I cringed at the thought of a robin being picked apart by the hawk, it was an interesting sight--I thought that the hawk was a Cooper's Hawk, but after some research on the Internet, Baby Bird was convinced that it was a Short Shined Hawk--apparently they are almost indistinguishable to casual observers as the pictures above shows--I remain convinced that it was a Cooper's Hawk as they are more likely to be found in suburban areas and the Short Shined Hawk usually inhibits forests and woodland areas  Robins are one of my favorite backyard songbirds so interesting or not, I was distressed about the robin, oh I know, survival of the fittest, circle of life, but I would have felt better if it was a grackle instead of a robin--