I caught this Red-tailed hawk on the shoreline of this lake holding this carp in her talons. The carp looked like it was dead for awhile and there are washed up bodies of carp on this lake quite frequently in early spring. So, my guess is that she was just helping herself to some fast easy food. I got a couple of picks of her tearing it apart but found this one more appealing. I also liked the little tuft on this one’s head because I thought it gives her that formidable appearance that a Harpy Eagle possesses.

This was taken at Stewart Park in Ithaca NY.

The scientific name of this species is: Buteo jamaicensis.