Avian Image of the Week for the week ending Jan 31st, 2014: David Salem - Harrier with Coot

[Daniel Cadieux]

Congratulations David!

Took this last night with my partner in crime, Glenn Conlan.


The Harriers in my area eat Coots almost exclusively. I often wondered how they could tackle a coot and kill it. They are not set up to kill something this big, they don't have the tomial tooth on their beak like a falcon.
This specialized tooth aids in dislocating the vertebrae of birds that the falcon catches and is only present in Falconidaes. Without this means of dispatching a large bird like a Coot the Harriers would have to eat the Coot alive ,which I don't think a Coot would stand for and it would fight back and possibly hurt the Harrier. I have taken many Coots with my falcons over the years and they can put up a good fight, even for a larger female falcon.

So how was it that every Harrier we saw was eating a Coot?

We finally figured it out last year and were fortunate enough to witness this hunting behavior multiple times.
The Harriers fly around the ponds looking for an unsuspecting Coot or a good size group. Then they hover over them and roll over and smash right in the water and grab one. At that point they hold it down with their feet and long legs and drown the Coot. This process takes quite a few minutes as a coot can hold it's breath for a long time. The Harrier just sits on the water like a duck waiting for the coot to die. The next part is the one that is ingenious. Once the coot is dead the Harrier flies off down wind to the nearest bank and sits and waits. The Coot floats, and in the breeze, it slowly sends the Coot her way as she stands on the bank patiently waiting. Nature at its best!!

Sorry for the long read but I though it was really neat and wanted to share it with you guys and gals. I also added a few shots of this behavior so you could see what I am talking about. Hope its ok.

1DX---840mm---f7.0---ss1/2500---ISO640---HH from truck@3:45pm---20% crop

Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it.

David

[Iain Barker]

Well done on IOTW David, fantastic image and a great insight into the behavoiur of these birds.

[Glenn Conlan]

Well deserved Dave, it was a great encounter we had. Maybe I will post the shot of her coming into the coot. Congrats!

Glenn

[Sidharth Kodikal]

There was never a doubt about this one Dave. You knocked this one way out of the park. Congrats!

[kevin Hice]

Great picture Dave very interesting in the details.You have to know your subject and the details show it.I currently am flying a gyr x per and a seven year intermewed gyrkin. A few years ago I came thru a gate in Ne and a harrier was sitting on a cotton tail it had just killed it wasn't in the two track a few minutes earlier.This is out of the ordinary kill also .I have seen raptors in extreme conditions,winter pull off some great feats to survive.

[vishaljadhav]

Fantastic image

[Tiago Caravana]

Super photo and very nice and interesting story! Congratulations!!!

[David Salem]

Thanks everyone for the comments and to the editors for choosing my photo. I am honored, especially amongst this quality group of photographers.

Kevin, I remember a falconry meet in Kearney Nebraska in the late 80s. A big storm front was about to hit that night. That day in the field was filled with every raptor in the area hunting as hard as they could. They were literally bouncing off the windshield. We even watched a silver Gyrkin hovering and stooping over a group of Teal trying to get them to leave the water so he could give chase. Some of the best times to photograph or trap falcons is right before a storm. Thanks.

[Loi Nguyen]

Congrats David. Well deserved and thank you for the story. Loi

[gail bisson]

Congrats on a wonderful shot. Well deserving of an IOTW,
Gail

[Diane Miller]

Incredible picture and story!! The incredibly clean BG is wonderful! Congratulations!

[Dave Spates]

Amazing. Love the photo and love the story behind it, great job

[Jim Crosswell]

Congratulations David!