Today I joined in on the Arboretum's afternoon Winter Birding Hike. Facing a strong northwest wind, the majority of birds were hunkered down, but larger birds seemed to not mind. We saw a perched red-tailed hawk, a flock of playful crows, and plenty of Arboretum turkeys walking about. Towards the very end of the hike we came across a pile of fur and this cottontail rabbit head. Our guide mentioned that great-horned owls are known to leave the head of larger prey behind, which allows them to carry the rest in their talons. There was also talk that red-tailed hawks will actually gut larger prey and cut off appendages to make them easier to move to a safe eating spot. Since great-horned owls and red-tailed hawks both weigh about 3 pounds on average, they can only carry so much in their talons while flying. But for this cottontail, I notice that the fur has grey and white tinges, probably for winter camouflage. Or is their fur this color year round? It will be interesting to see the fur on a rabbit's head in August and compare.
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