The Greater North American Headless Hawk

You can imagine my great surprise when I spotted this headless hawk sitting on a lamp post over the I-99 interchange near the building where I work. Of course, I had to stop for pictures, for who could imagine such a thing. A headless horseman? Perhaps yes. A headless  hawk? No way!

This is just one of several red-tailed hawks who enjoy hanging out on the lamp posts over the highway. In looking closer, I discovered that the hawk is not, in fact, actually missing any body parts. Those who may be worried by this image, please be assured that this headless shot is just an illusion.

The bird was doing some important morning preening, and at this point, the head was positioned behind the body, out of sight. A second later, the head popped up and the bird looked quite normal. Whew! What a relief!

The song to accompany this image is a favorite of mine. Some may not know that Warren Zevon and David Letterman were good friends, and Warren appeared on the show many times. This was the final song Warren Zevon performed on the show in October 2002: Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.