Gabar Goshawk
Micronisus gabar
Nakuru, Kenya. July 2014. The bird feeding on a chick it took from a Speke's Weaver neast.
This is a predator of birds equipped with sharp talons and a hooked bill. Gabar Goshawk often raid nests containing chicks. The predation observed here occurred on a densely foggy morning. Very rapidly the hawk swooped under the tree canopy where several weaver nests were hung and grasped a nest, and, using its weight pulled the nest apart. A hapless chick fell out and was taken away to a nearby perch by the hawk. It seems that the hawk must have observed this nest earlier when lighting was better.
Accipitridae -- Falcon, Hawk and Eagle Family
Books:
- Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania by Zimmerman et al.
- Birds of East Africa by Stevenson and Fanshawe