A predator in our midst...
 

My camera could not get better close-ups:yell:but this guy has been picking off at least 10 of"my"Pigeons this winter.
He is quiet large,larger than a Crow and he is beautiful,I just wish he did not kill my Pigeons,he does not bother with the smaller birds.
I have no idea what he is,but he's huge..

chico I'm not sure what he is but he is pretty. Could it be a Peregrine Falcon?

Yes TQ,they are beautiful,but it saddens me,when I see another Pigeon getting caught,however that is the way of nature..and we all have to eat to survive.

Looks like might be a Coopers Hawk or a Peregrine Falcon as TQ said....they are just awful preditors but I guess that is nature.
Did you know we have Golden (larger Bald Headed Eagles) here in southern Ontario...saw one at the 407 & Hwy 10 the other day...couldn't believe it...even my brother who travels all over the world bird watching told me I was nuts...then I sent him the link to the Eagles in Ontario...I guess he will be out Eagle watching in Ontario now!
There is apparently a pair just outside Ottawa seen last week as well.

They love pidgeons and this winter it seems that they are having a hard time finding rabbits so we see more of them with pidgeons here as well. I guess you hunt the largest food source... look at the bright side...... could be small dogs or cats instead. :eek:

What I do when I'm bird watching, Chico 2, is estimate its size compared to another bird, like you have with the crow, then look at my bird books. For instance, a Peregrine Falcon is about the same size or [U]smaller[/U] than an Australian Raven(aka crow), but then how big is your crow? You can often cancel out a bird as a possibility that way. You are very lucky if it is a Peregrine, I'm told they nest over in the forest opposite us but I've never been lucky enough to see one. :(

[QUOTE=BMDLuver;986746]They love pidgeons and this winter it seems that they are having a hard time finding rabbits so we see more of them with pidgeons here as well. I guess you hunt the largest food source... look at the bright side...... could be small dogs or cats instead. :eek:[/QUOTE]

Didn't see this post. We'd be on eagle watch here sometimes when we had sheltie pups outside for some exercise. The sables are just the same colour as wild rabbits and it was nerve wracking when a big wedge-tailed eagle would be gliding in circles above the place. A friend in Queensland watched one take a big rooster that was just ahead of her on a path, and saw another swooping after a wild Peacock, so a little pup like this would be just a snack. Gives me the shivers thinking about it.

Beautiful!! I know it's sad when they kill the birds at the feeder though :(
I think it's a shiney shinned hawk (sp) we had one of those a few years back, ate a few of my mourning doves.

Thank's girls,he looks smaller in the pic and his tail-feathers are hidden by the pool-skimmer,I would say a bit bigger than my Crows.
Probably not a Pergrine,more than likely a Coopers Hawk,very common around here.
Looking in my bird-books,so many look the same,spotted chests,striped tail-feathers,a few white spots on the wings.

He will usually wait at a distance,until the Pigeons are on the ground eating,then he'll catch them at their most vulnerable as they try to fly away.
Once they are flying,they are very fast and can get away.
I absolutely hate it:(but can only hope he kills them quickly..

Shirley,my son said he saw Golden Eagles up north in cottage-country,I did not believe him at first,but I've heard they are here.
I've only seen one and it was in South Carolina,beautiful birds..

Goldfields,I have plenty of Squirrels,but the Hawks don't even make an attempt to get them,they usually freeze when a Hawk is around.

[QUOTE=chico2;986797]


Goldfields,I have plenty of Squirrels,but the Hawks don't even make an attempt to get them,they usually freeze when a Hawk is around.[/QUOTE]

We don't get the Coopers Hawk of course but at first glance he looks like a Peregrine, even to me I mean, because we do have them. Size is an important distinguishing feature for sure.

Isn't that strange that the Hawks don't go for squirrels. To show how our Eagles might go for anything, my husband and a workmate were in a ute and Ian said there was an explosion of feathers beside it and an eagle had taken a magpie right next to them virtually. Very bold, or perhaps very hungry?

GF,as far as I remember,Peregrines have blueish/grey backs and wings and are a bit smaller.
I have never seen Magpies here,I know in Sweden we call them Crows,I don't remember ever seeing black crows in Sweden.

Usually if the Crows are around,they'll try to scare the Hawks away,make a holy racket:laughing:probably defending their territory.
I love to study the behavior of different critters in my yard...

I think you're right, chico--looks like a Cooper's to me, too. Beautiful bird. Pity about the pigeons, though :grouphug: I know how much you enjoy having them around.

Yes Hazel,I cry every time I see another Pigeon struggling in the talons of a Hawk,I call the Pigeons my"chickens",they look like chickens when they are all on the ground eating their corn(yeah,I know,weird:laughing:)

That one looks like the bigger of the two I've had hanging around my feeder. I see the feathers in the morning too. :( There's tons of mice around. Wish they'd go after them instead. :frustrated: