Can someone ID this bird of prey

Socrates

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I've been getting quite regular visits of the below beauty in my yard but can't figure out what type of hawk this is. Can anyone identify him for me, please?

He's quite welcome in my yard, especially since he's been very successful at downsizing the house sparrow population. :D \

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Wendy
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Wolfy72

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Looks like a red tailed hawk to me...could be a sparrow hawk as well... hard to say though by just a photo, good looking bird though ..
 

Socrates

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Thanks, Wolfy.

I don't think he's a Sparrow Hawk, unless the American Kestrel/Sparrow Hawk are actually 2 different types of birds. I occasionally see those in our Reservoir, and they're a whole lot smaller (and more colorful).

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Wendy
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Hedorah99

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looks kinda like a Cooper's Hawk.


I take that back, maybe a northern goshawk. both are becoming extremely rare in the northeast.
 

billopelma

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It looks like an Accipiter of some type. Most likely a juvenile Sharp Shinned or Coopers. If it's about a foot, it's a Sharp Shinned, a foot and a half then Coopers or possibly a Goshawk if a bit bigger. Looks a little thin for a Goshawk though. They are difficult to identify with juvenile plumage. I've had an adult Coopers terrorizing my birdfeeder for the past couple years, and used to have a Goshawk that would grab one of my bantams now and then.

Bill
 

Socrates

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Thank you all for the input. :)

I googled the birds mentioned and believe he/she is a Cooper's Hawk. The pictures I posted were taken a while ago, but the plummage hasn't changed much. He's a big bird, and catches the sparrows in the air. :eek: One time he pinned one against the fence before taking off.

It's always a site to behold when I'm out back, minding my own business, listening to all the birds on the feeder and in the bird bath, when they all suddenly scatter, frantically taking off and WHAM there he is, appearing out of nowhere ever so quickly and silently. :D

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Wendy
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Taceas

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Although its hard to tell from blurry pictures, my guess would be a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. The proportions just don't look quite right for a Sharp Shinned. I'm mainly looking at toe length based on the newel post, the head size, vertical breast feather striping, etc. But again, it's just a guess at best since they're so similar in appearances.

I've had encounters with both this year. I had a Cooper's to nab 2 pigeons that were fully enclosed in a chain-link pen without ever getting into the pen. Amazing huh?

I eventually caught it in a live-trap. I didn't realize it was a hawk getting the pigeons and assumed it was some mammal predator like usual. Moral of the story, don't trap hawks, even if you don't mean to. The DNR doesn't like you if you do. :rolleyes:







And lastly we had a juvenile Sharp Shinned to snuff its own life out while chasing birds around our feeder and it bonked into a window. So sad. I'm holding it in my hand for reference.



They both like to nab birds at the feeders, so if you're feeding birds I would withhold food for a few days to reduce the bird numbers and see if that helps them to move on. Most should be migrated to more southerly areas by this time of year, but I guess some might stay behind and take advantage of the easy pickings.


Informative site with pictures comparing the two species for easier identifications: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/accipiterIDtable.htm
 

Socrates

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Thanks so much for that great link, Misty. :) And "your" Cooper's is magnificent. Holy cow - how did he pin the pigeons through the fence? Did he eat them, too, or just killed them? What kind of trap did you use? (I have NO intentions of trapping my buddy, but there's this pesky rabbit I've been attempting to trap for months....without success. :( )

I don't fill my feeders regularly, but keep water in the bird bath at all times. As long as he only nails the sparrows he's more than welcome to stay around for as long as he pleases because those birds only take away the nesting sites of our local song birds each and every year. (especially the blue bird boxes)

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Wendy
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Thiscordia

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I want to become a Falconer so i studied for about 4 months and I pass my test all i needed to do was build my mews but didn't had enough $$$ next year i will get my hawk though.
I think that's a Red Tailed Hawk but i might be wrong the pic it's a little blurry.

-.Raul
 

Taceas

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A Red Tail would be much more red, larger, and scruffier. The proportions are all wrong for a Red Tail, imho.

Wendy, the Cooper's somehow nailed them through the wire of the cage. It drug the bodies to the back side of the fence and ate part of the carcasses but couldn't get the rest of the body out through the wire. I thought it was a raccoon or an opossum, as I've trapped and euthanized a ton of those near that pen this year, so I set the trap with one of the carcasses and thought that's what I was going to get. The live trap set all night and the next morning we had a very ticked off hawk.



I guess they're just that tenacious of a hunter to actually get caged birds, too. The one Conservation Officer I spoke to at a local FWA that wasn't rude, said Cooper's typically will chase a bird through the forest and basically exhaust it so it can't fly anymore and then catch it. They then generally stand on it to asphyxiate it before eating.

Like I said if you ever catch a hawk by accident, don't notify your local authorities its more trouble than it's worth. Our local Game Warden never did call me back. The DNR main office in Indy was flat out rude and said what I did was illegal, even if I never meant to catch it in the first place. And releasing it was also illegal. I finally got the go-ahead to release it about 40 miles away at a local FWA. So far its not been back.

I use a HavaHart live trap, you can get them at Rural King or Big R stores here. This one is meant for racoons/opossums but this size will easily nab rabbits or annoying stray cats as well. For a rabbit, green apple seems to have attracted the bulk of them when we trapped them for a guy in town once.
 

Thiscordia

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This is Kattie a Harri's Hawk, i took this pic on her last season's flight.
She's was eating a frozen chick.
 
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cliff

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Definitely a first year accipiter. Either a sharpshin or coopers hawk. it will get it's adult plumage next year with it's first molt.

Cliff :)
 

Binky/Carol

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Sparrow hawks are called that because they are one of the smallest falcons around, same as Merlins.. Those are both much smaller than a peregrin falcon.
a Goshawk has more grey and white plumage.
Just to let you all know.
Carol
 

thisgal

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We have a small group of hawks in our neighborhood...I have yet to actually ID them, but they're pretty vocal. We had a pair last year, and one day my dad found one of them at the base of a telephone pole....:( I guess it had been electrocuted. After dancing around with the local authorities (I can't have its body in my possession, but I can't just go put it back in the woods, what in the world am I supposed to do, turn back time?!), I finally got in touch with the head honcho down at the local DNR office. I took it out of my fridge and he stuck it in his freezer. I really don't understand why it's illegal to get them taxidermied. It's not like I went out and killed one. Weird.

But anyway, after that one's death, the other one would let out the most lonely and sad screeches.... :( The good news is that it found another mate, and baby makes three!
 

Socrates

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It's a Coopers Hawk - I'm quite sure of it now. He's been back a few times, but I haven't been able to take any more pictures, he's much too quick. :)

Most definitely not a Redtail Hawk, they look quite different.

Thank you all for your inputs. :)

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Wendy
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Louise E. Rothstein

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Dear Socrates:

"He" may be "She."
Male PEOPLE grow bigger than female people...but hawks develop so differently that the big "males" lay ALL of the eggs.

Amazed Arab falconers did not believe it.
You should have seen their faces when they saw who laid eggs.

Somewhat surprisingly yours,
Louise Esther Rothstein.
 
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