Photo by Samer Farha

Last week we had tipsters reporting that they had seen owls prowling D.C. neighborhoods. Well, they’re not the only birds of prey hovering above our heads these days.

Photo by @CaraMellow

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen multiple reports of hawks not only flying the D.C. skies, but also feasting on unfortunate pigeons. In early January, a PoPville reader snapped some pretty gruesome pictures of a hawk killing a pigeon in Farragut Square. Yesterday, Post reporter Tim Craig reported a similar scene on 14th Street in Columbia Heights, while another resident snapped a picture of a hawk enjoying a dead pigeon on 17th Street and Rhode Island Avenue.

It’s not just this year, either. In mid-2012, the Washington Humane Society rescued a hawk that had received a concussion during a fight with one of its own. The video below was captured in 2011; that same year, a hawk eluded capture within the confines of the Library of Congress. In 2009, a hawk became trapped in a Metro escalator, only to be freed after rescue workers dismantled the escalator and allowed the hawk to fly to freedom. If you want a really gruesome picture, check out this 2007 shot from our Flickr pool.

So what gives? Well, it’s part of the (urban) circle of life. Pigeons and rats are relatively easy prey for hawks and falcons, and we should probably be thankful that something keeps those gross little bastards in check. The hawks that circle the D.C. sky—most often the red-tailed variety, though peregrine falcons are local too—aren’t hard to spot if you know what to look for, wrote a local birdwatcher in 2011:

Spotting a bird of prey in the city (or at least one the size of DC) is actually quite easy. Keep an eye out on the pigeons, starlings and gulls around you. Don’t look for the falcon at first. If you see all the pigeons, starlings and gulls suddenly take flight at the same time and very erratically, then a falcon is near. Scan the rest of the sky and you will likely spot the falcon soaring around nearby. The pigeons instinctively fly a certain way when they spot a bird of prey in order to evade the falcon or hawk.