# Fat Hawk Down **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135 "2013-01-14T05:01:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/1 "2013-01-14T05:01:03Z")
Never dreamed that a bird could over eat to this extent. I’ve felt nearly that bad after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. 😛 Apparently the bird really couldn’t get up. The rescue folks captured it easily. The shocked look on that birds face cracks me up. I bet he’s thinking “WTF just happened?” 😃 [Coots](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Fulica_atra_%28common_coot%29,_Arnhem,_The_netherlands.jpg) are pretty big birds for a single meal. > **[Fat hawk down: Bird of prey left sprawled on its back after it ate a coot and...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2261735/Fat-hawk-Bird-prey-left-sprawled-ate-coot-unable-again.html)** > > Photographer Steve Shinn managed to snap the stricken bird of prey on its back after a meal of a coot near a nature preserve in Long Beach, California. > [@](#): > > 'I found this bird in a very unhawklike position looking very distressed. It had attacked a Coot near the stream and chewed away on it for about a half hour before it waddled about 50 feet and fell flat on his keister. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/2 "2013-01-14T05:02:34Z")
this will not end well ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/3 "2013-01-14T05:05:07Z")
Maybe he swallowed an alka-seltzer tablet. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/4 "2013-01-14T05:38:40Z")
Anyone else think that was an owl? Sure has big eyes like an owl. Here’s [a red tail hawk](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6KqhMYqLJ8w/TpXN2FPvUWI/AAAAAAAAAUw/6t70uzZJuNA/s1600/rth+head+closeup2.jpg). I guess they look different laying on their backs. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/5 "2013-01-14T06:17:41Z")
Well now that you mention it, it does look owlish. But it also may just be the camera angle. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/6 "2013-01-14T06:40:16Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Never dreamed that a bird could over eat to this extent. I’ve felt nearly that bad after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. 😛 [Galahs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galah) are very common, range across Australia but, unlike cockatoos and corellas, they are dumber than rocks. (Also are the least nutrious ingredient in any bushman’s recipie for Galah Pie) During the summer cereal harvest they flock in their thousands to gorge on grain spilled along the side of roads and will do so to the point they can’t fly. Add the next semi-trailer with a load of wheat travelling @ 50mph and you get avarian carnage. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/7 "2013-01-14T06:43:04Z")
The same photographer, Steve Shinn, published [this photo](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/9581140/Pictures-of-the-day-2-October-2012.html?frame=2357299) a few months ago. Look close, one bird has a gray rat and is passing it to his mate in mid-air. Really cool shot. According to the caption, this is very common. The male hunts and passes the dinner off to the female in mid-air. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/8 "2013-01-14T06:49:24Z")
What the fuck is with you and the [fat threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=678746)? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/9 "2013-01-14T06:52:33Z")
Nothing. I used the **exact** news article title for my thread title. _Fat Hawk Down_ Besides this bird isn’t permanently fat. It simply ate one big meal and needed time to digest it. The rescue center said the bird was fine the next day. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/10 "2013-01-14T14:34:11Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > What the fuck is with you and the [fat threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=678746)? You’re in MPSIMS, dial it back a little, please. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/11 "2013-01-14T18:40:19Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The same photographer, Steve Shinn, published [this photo](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/9581140/Pictures-of-the-day-2-October-2012.html?frame=2357299) a few months ago. Look close, one bird has a gray rat and is passing it to his mate in mid-air. Really cool shot. > > According to the caption, this is very common. The male hunts and passes the dinner off to the female in mid-air. Wow. Avian mid-air refueling. Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![dexter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dc4da7/32.png) [@dexter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dexter)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/12 "2013-01-15T00:42:50Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Anyone else think that was an owl? Sure has big eyes like an owl. Here’s [a red tail hawk](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6KqhMYqLJ8w/TpXN2FPvUWI/AAAAAAAAAUw/6t70uzZJuNA/s1600/rth+head+closeup2.jpg). I guess they look different laying on their backs. Well, his eyes were bigger than his stomach, anyway. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/13 "2013-01-15T00:54:46Z")
I hope they set him up with a TV and tuned it in to some football while he was recovering. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/14 "2013-01-15T00:58:50Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > What the fuck is with you and the [fat threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=678746)? As a 350 lb. person who didn’t think the other thread was all that humorous, all that I can say is, lighten up, Francis. 😃 Fat birds **are** funny. Making fun of animals isn’t even close to making fun of a person. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/15 "2013-01-15T01:47:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Well now that you mention it, it does look owlish. But it also may just be the camera angle. No, it’s definitely a red tailed hawk, not an owl. The head’s not as broad as an owl’s, and the white belly-band is a definitive field mark. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/16 "2013-01-15T02:34:55Z")
What is a _coot_? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/17 "2013-01-15T02:36:01Z")
I’ve heard that turkey vultures sometimes eat so much they can’t fly. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/18 "2013-01-15T03:16:15Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > What is a _coot_? A type of water bird. Sort of like a duck, but fatter and with a shorter neck. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/19 "2013-01-15T03:24:35Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > A type of water bird. Sort of like a duck, but fatter and with a shorter neck. And the old ones look [like this.](http://wandervogeldiary.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/4-desperados-cropped2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135/20 "2013-01-15T06:11:34Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > And the old ones look [like this.](http://wandervogeldiary.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/4-desperados-cropped2.jpg) Hey, I resemble that remark! _waves cane in the air_ Get off mah lawn! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-hawk-down/647135.md?page=2)