In 2016, authors observed a red-shouldered hawk attack and dismember another crustacean, the ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata), on a coastal beach in South Carolina, USA. Credit: Julie Larsen Maher/WCS
Red-shouldered hawks (Buteo lineatus) feed primarily on mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates, the majority of which are insects and crustaceans, with the latter represented to date only by crayfish.
In 2016, authors observed a red-shouldered hawk attack and dismember another crustacean, the ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata), on a coastal beach in South Carolina, USA.
This is the first report of a red-shouldered hawk attacking and presumably consuming any species of crab and the first report of probable ghost crab predation by a raptor in North America.
More information: ""Attack and probable predation on ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata) by red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus)," Conservation Science and Practice (2019).
Provided by Wildlife Conservation Society
