Red-Tailed Hawks

Red-Tailed hawks are fairly common. Whenever you're driving along the highway or country roads, keep an eye out. They are often perched high up in the trees, keeping a watchful eye out for prey. We often see hawks perched in one of the dead trees out back and they'll just sit and wait and watch. Last year we witnessed a hawk in action when it swooped down in our front yard, grabbed a mourning dove (we think) and sat down for a meal. I think quite often they grab their meal and eat it somewhere else, but this guy sat out front and ate it right up. It was pretty impressive to be about 8 feet away from the show. He ate everything too- only some feathers were left behind. At first we weren't sure what kind of hawk it was, but after consulting with some experts (posting the pic on whatbird.com forum), the consensus seems to be that it's a juvenille red-tailed hawk.