I'm calling this a hawk but I'm none too certain of that identification, if any of y'all out there can tell me what sort bird this is I'd be much obliged. These photos are from February 2018, I'd went down to the waterfront to take photos of some flooding that was going on when I came across these two.
When I first saw them I assumed that the pigeon was already dead. . . until it started moving again and the hawk got excited about this development. I just love this photo for the contrast of the motion blur with the in focus parts of the shot. The pigeon had tried to flap its wings and the hawk started beating on it with its own wings.
The struggle didn't last very long...
Somebody started getting a bit defensive about their next meal. I'd eased a bit closer while the pigeon was providing a distraction.
I don't think the pigeon is actually dead but it stopped struggling at this point.
I circled around to get a different angle, pretty sure that convinced it that I was trying to steal its meal. Shortly after I snapped this one it took the pigeon and flew off.
I guess the pigeon was a bit heavy, it didn't fly all that far away, I tracked it down just a block away.
Think it was starting to get exasperated with me, by this point I'd been following it around for 15-20 minutes.
It forgot about me briefly when the pigeon made one last feeble attempt to escape.
Once it started putting on a bit of a display with its wings I figured it was time to let it enjoy its meal and wandered off to shoot some flooding. I've seen quite a few of these around Louisville, saw a couple that were apparently fighting in midair the other day above my house. I don't think I've ever had one let me get as close as this one did, at various points I was within 5-10 feet of it.