Green-Wood Cemetery Hawk Update

Friday afternoon I took a quick ride over to Green-Wood Cemetery to check on the hawk nest. I only had about an hour to kill so was hoping just to verify that there were still/only two offspring in that nest. I got lucky because, shortly after I set up my tripod, Junior flew into the nest with what appeared to be a rat. I watched as his two young eyass attempted to feed themselves. Notice how both hawks are using their feet to "foot" the prey that their father had dropped into the bottom of the nest. It is actually their long, sharp talons that are used to kill prey, not their bill. Also notice that the chick on the left is more developed than the one in the foreground. It is most apparent on the length of the tail feathers.