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Help identifying a bird of prey in my backyard Login/Join 
Age Quod Agis
Picture of ArtieS
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quote:
Originally posted by Beancooker:
Snip... and what I can do to make my yard more attractive to this Hawk.


Buy chickens.



"I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation."

Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II.
 
Posts: 12743 | Location: Central Florida | Registered: November 02, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I can't tell if I'm
tired, or just lazy
Picture of ggile
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The first picture looks like a raptor in camoflage.

Seriously though, around here, Hawks are like house cats in their various colorings and I don't know how people can be so sure in their identification. I've got a small book on Raptors of Western North America and according to it and your pics it looks like either a Coopers or Red Shouldered Hawk.


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Posts: 2073 | Location: South Dakota-pheasant country | Registered: June 20, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Little ray
of sunshine
Picture of jhe888
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I don't think it is an osprey. They have very long wings relative to their size and are quite white, and not so buff. Plus they feed on fish, and need a body of water. Is there water nearby?

Other than "hawk" I can't tell from those photos.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
 
Posts: 53117 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of wrightd
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Raptors for some reason inspire my heart. Magnificent creatures all of them. We have a nesting couple that seem to return each year in our back yard, not sure how that works, I guess it's the same pair. My wife used to worry about a small terrier we had for about 14 years, I'm not sure that dog being so feisty way out of her weight class wouldn't have given any raptor a run for its money.

Once when dove hunting, a buddy had a VERY fast german shorthair, which we all personally observed, run up to a raptor that grabbed one of our downed birds right out of its talons after the bird had left the ground. That dog ran and jumped up pretty high and just ripped that bird out of the raptors grip, and brought it back to us. We thought that was pretty funny, and amazing too. That bird dog was special for sure.




Lover of the US Constitution
Wile E. Coyote School of DIY Disaster
 
Posts: 8634 | Location: Nowhere the constitution is not honored | Registered: February 01, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fire begets Fire
Picture of SIGnified
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Good stories… Smile



We have Coopers hawks around here, but they are smaller. However the coloring looks identical. I know I’m a little late - But I concur… Cooper’s Hawk





"Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty."
~Robert A. Heinlein
 
Posts: 26756 | Location: dughouse | Registered: February 04, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of SPWAMike0317
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There is a park next to my house that has Bald Eagles, hawks and Osprey's. Watching raptors soar through the trees is amazing.
Any day I see a raptor is a good day. On rare occasions one will perch in a tree in my backyard. That is a very good day indeed.



Let me help you out. Which way did you come in?
 
Posts: 715 | Location: North of Pittsburgh, PA | Registered: January 29, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
and this little pig said:
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Sharp-shinned and Cooper's have similar markings. The size is the differentiator. We have both in my NH back yard!
 
Posts: 3396 | Registered: February 07, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Alea iacta est
Picture of Beancooker
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Okay, so I am learning a lot since I decided to dive head first into this.

It appears the red shoulder hawk is not in my region. So that one is out.

Ospreys appear too white to be this bird. Plus, the water here is pretty lame, and doubtful one could survive off the fish here.

As far as sharp shin or coopers, it’s too big to be a sharp shin.



quote:
Originally posted by parabellum: You must have your pants custom tailored to fit your massive balls.
The “lol” thread
 
Posts: 4023 | Location: Staring down at you with disdain, from the spooky mountaintop castle.  | Registered: November 20, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of sourdough44
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I have a similar hawk family nearby. I’ve settled with either the ‘sharp-shinned’ or ‘coopers’ hawk, both seem to be in this area. Mine has the longer tail, cruises between tress, can take a bird on the fly.

I’m kinda neutral with them, don’t want to hear they grabbed a bluebird. We’ve had about zero rabbits the last few years, turkeys have a tough time raising little ones too. Yes, the fox family Is involved too.

This Winter we took 3 coyotes & 2 fox from just behind the house. I like to put a roadkill deer out back in the depths of the cold season.
 
Posts: 6129 | Location: WI | Registered: February 29, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Animis Opibusque Parati
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quote:
Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Go to the app store. Download the “Merlin” app.


This is a great suggestion. The Merlin Bird ID app will also identify birds by sound. It is really useful for anyone that likes birds.




"Prepared in mind and resources"
 
Posts: 1351 | Location: SC | Registered: October 28, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Savor the limelight
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quote:
Originally posted by Beancooker:
Ospreys appear too white to be this bird. Plus, the water here is pretty lame, and doubtful one could survive off the fish here.

The stripes or bands on the underside of the wings of the bird in your pictures eliminate it as an Osprey. I see Ospreys everyday and they don’t look like that.
 
Posts: 10821 | Location: SWFL | Registered: October 10, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Rounded tail feathers is another tell for the Cooper's


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The sadder but wiser girl for me.
 
Posts: 1054 | Location: Idaho Panhandle | Registered: July 18, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of RichardC
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quote:
Originally posted by ArtieS:
quote:
Originally posted by Beancooker:
Snip... and what I can do to make my yard more attractive to this Hawk.


Buy chickens.


And install a koi pond.


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Posts: 15841 | Location: Florida | Registered: June 23, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
3° that never cooled
Picture of rock185
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I agree; Cooper's Hawk. We live in Rim Country, and had one in the yard getting a drink the other afternoon.


NRA Life
 
Posts: 1561 | Location: Under the Tonto Rim | Registered: August 18, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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