The Baddest Birds on the Block

BirdNote^®

The Baddest Birds on the Block

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote.

[Electric guitar shredding 🎸]  (Van Halen “Panama”)

Some predatory birds stand out sharply from the rest. Informally, they rate among the “baddest” birds on the block. 

[Electric guitar shredding 🎸]  (Van Halen “Panama”)

Up first: The Northern Goshawk. 
  
[Northern Goshawk, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/105843911, 0.02-0.4]

In a northern forest, a silver blur rockets toward an unsuspecting grouse, followed quickly by an explosion of feathers as the hawk strikes. The Northern Goshawk is so fast and fierce, no wonder Attila the Hun wore its image on his helmet.

For the next of our bird-baddies, its deadly, slithering prey makes its reputation.
 
 [Brown Snake-Eagle, https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/51452 , 0.05-0.07] 

The Brown Snake-Eagle — which has a surprisingly quiet cry — soars over the savannahs, plains, and semi-desert regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Grabbing a cobra from the ground, it quickly tears off the venomous head mid-flight, then swallows the entire six-foot snake, a quick and tidy end for a deadly reptile.

[Eurasian Eagle-Owl, https://www.xeno-canto.org/522406, 0.35-.45]

One of the world’s largest owls rounds out our baddest list: the Eurasian Eagle-Owl.

[Eurasian Eagle-Owl, https://www.xeno-canto.org/522406, 0.35-.45]

This handsome tawny predator lives in rocky habitats as well as forest, where it preys on hares, foxes — even animals as large as deer fawns. A supreme hunter that reigns across two continents.

    (Van Halen “Panama”)

For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein. 
                                                                         ###
Senior Producer: John Kessler
Production Manager: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone
Digital Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Northern Goshawk ML 105843911 recorded by C. Wood, Brown Snake-Eagle ML 51452 recorded by J. Horne, Eurasian Eagle-Owl Xeno-Canto 522406 recorded by P. Svahn. Accent music Van Halen “Panama” 1983 Warner Brothers (album 1984)
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2021 BirdNote   June 2021    Narrator: Michael Stein

ID#  badbirds-01-2021-06-10    badbirds-01

References:
https://peregrinefund.org/explore-raptors-species/owls/eurasian-eagle-o…

https://www.owlpages.com/owls/species.php?s=1240
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Bubo_bubo/
https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/northern-goshawk-esteemed-bird-pr…