Got a pic of one of my Hawks

[chico2]

Lucky break,this guy was right outside my kitchen-window,not a great pic,but maybe someone knows what he is??
It's the smaller one...

[clm]

Don't have my bird book with me to look him up, but good pics Chico2. Poor fella must be cold out there looking for lunch today.

Cindy

[dustybird]

Great pics.

Looks like a Peregrine Falcon to me, maybe their colour changes in the winter(not so dark or a female). I know Loons go from back to almost white in winter.

[Winston]

It kind of looks like an immature peregine falcon but it does not have the malar around the face. But to me it resembles a sharp shinned hawk..heres a sample pic...

Cindy

[chico2]

It's a bad pic,because I took it through a dirty window and screen.
His body is probably a little more than 1 foot long+the tail.
Tail has vertical brown stripes and is a fan-shape,it's eally hard to tell what they are isn't it??
The large one that comes around has a yellowish beak,this one was black.

I also found a dead Pigeon,but what was weird,the whole Pigeon was in tact except for his rib-cage,it was totally exposed and empty.
Strange,because Hawks always,pluck the birds and leave nothing behind,but feathers,maybe something else got the Pigeon

[JanM]

What a beautiful bird - My best guess is a Peregrine - given the size and the colouring.

[Winston]

Chico if it is a falcon it may be banded....Maybe one day you'll be able to get a pic of the bands! That would be cool! The Canadian Peregrine Foundation follows many birds in the Southern Ontario area..There was a terrible fight for territory recently at one of the Toronot sites...I think Scarborough...I will have to see if there is an update on her! she was hurt really bad! broken beak some laserations! I have a fondness for the falcons! the pic certainly shows how majestic these birds are!

Cindy

[hazelrunpack]

It looks like a Sharp-Shinned hawk or a Cooper's hawk to me--they look similar, but the sharp-shinned has a foot long body, on average, and the Cooper's is maybe another few inches longer. Sometimes the easiest way to tell them apart is to look at their tails. The Sharp-Shinned has a longish tail with a blunt end--the Cooper's is proportionately shorter and slightly rounded on the end...

If this bird is about a foot in size, it would more like be a Sharp-Shinned, but if you can get a glimpse of its tail in flight, you might be able to tell for sure.

[chico2]

Thank's everyone,I am truly fascinated by these beautiful birds,I very seldom see them in the summer.
I suppose lack of prey in the winter brings them down here,especially since I have many birds around the feeders,often up to 35 Pigeons and many others.
So far,I've had them here every day..but I doubt I will ever again get close enough for another pic.
I will check for banding through my binoculars.

[Chris21711]

Chico, you started a guessing game here. Anybody think it could be a Merlin?

Hazel - according to my book a Coopers Hawk, goes south for winter, they are smart. Not like me, lived in Spain and came to Canada

[14+kitties]

Not even venturing a guess Chico. Just wanted to say what neat pics.... dirty window and all!!

[happycats]

Looks like the same guy that snacks on my mourning doves
I was told it's a shiney shinned hawk.

[want4rain]

chico2- you remember what color the eyes are?

-ash

[hazelrunpack]

Originally Posted by Chris21711

Hazel - according to my book a Coopers Hawk, goes south for winter, they are smart. Not like me, lived in Spain and came to Canada

I think both species head south if they can't find food--but we saw a Cooper's here in December and there's a Sharp-Shinned that was shadowing the feeders as late as last week. So maybe they aren't so smart after all!

[chico2]

W4R,unfortunately I did not see him close enough,but I could see they were dark.

Yesterday morning I had a new one here,one I have not seen before,I got a good look at him(no photo)since he was flying around a lot,not sitting still for a long time,like the others.
I am 99,9% this one was a Coopers Hawk,according to my bird-book,the difference between a Sharp-Shinned and a Coopers is a white tail-band at the end of his tail and this one definetly had it.
He was stunning,with his headcap and bluish grey wings,just beautiful!!
A lot of birds,who normally fly south have stayed,because of our normally mild winters,they have been in fo a surprise this winter though

[Chris21711]

I see hawks quite frequently but they never bother flying over the bird feeders, I'd be devastated if I saw them fly off with one of my birds. I did see a Northern Harrier sitting on the phone wires the other day, he was quite handsome.

After that snow we had last night the feeders were real busy this morning, I just love watching them, I'm all alone (human) in the house and standing there with this permagrin on my face Dogs looked at me and must of thought it was treat time, they all came to the kitchen and sat down looking at me, of course I obliged.

[JamesO]

This does look somewhat like a sharp-shinned hawk to me, that's just my opinion.

I have witnessed a sharp-shinned chasing a mourning dove, and as fast and agile as the mourning dove is, he didn't have a chance. The hawk stayed right with him on every turn, then just grabbed him. I know hawks have to eat, but I wish they were like ospreys and ate fish. I would even buy the fish.

[want4rain]

im sorry Chico2, i missed your response!

here is a page that shows lovely close ups of sharp shinned hawks eye color and how they change.

http://lauraerickson.blogspot.com/20...eye-color.html

here is one on telling the difference between the two-

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Abo...terIDtable.htm

but keep in mind immature birds of each species heavily favor each other even in size but as adults, they both are quite different in sizes. we have immature coopers here that get me every time but i know they are coopers cause mommy and daddy run off with squirrels every so often and honestly, those suckers blot out the sun at noon!

if the eyes were obviously dark (ie not radio active yellow) then i would say that was an adult and they eyes went read already. if s/he was big enough for you to cock an eyebrow then id say its a coopers. if it was one that made you think 'oh gee, thats a hawk' id say its a sharp shinned. it really is that kind of guess work with these birds in your back yard. they are just so similar through out a good 1/3rd of their life. after that, they are too smart to hang around people's houses!

-ashley

[chico2]

Thank's W4R,I look at one pic and say,that's it!and then another and it gets confusing,they are all similar
Except the last one with it's bluish/grey wings and back.

JamesO,Chris,I take no pleasure in watching a Hawk take one of"my"birds,I've even cried at times,only hoping the victim had a quick death.
Once a Hawk sat on my pooldeck,with a squirming Pigeon in his talons,thought maybe I could save him,but no,the Hawk flew off with his prey.
I believe once the Hawk has a bird,there is no "saving"him.
I too wish I could feed the Hawk,so he stays away from my birds,but that is not going to happen

As much as I love my birds and watching them year around,I also would not want to miss the opportunity to see these magnificent birds.

[JamesO]

WE watch a lot of nature shows and, even though we hate to see hawks around our feeder, we realize that the small birds we feed are part of the food chain and there is nothing we can do about it. If you are familiar with shrikes, which are similar in size to the larger sparrows, they are more vicious than hawks.

You took some fine pictures of the hawk, and although they are predators, they are still beautiful birds.

James O

[chico2]

Jameso,actually the birds I hate(not really hate) the most around here in springtime are Blue Jays.
I have a few birdhouses and they are always filled,we watch the Sparrows work soo hard at feeding their babies,only to one day seeing the house beeing raided by Blue Jays,the babies gone:sad:
I know,we have plenty of Sparrows,but I still hate to see it..every year.
One afternoon my hubby sat most of the day with a hose in his hands to scare the Blue-Jays away from our bird-housesbut they eventually got the babies anyway..