Hawk in the yard - What kind is it?

[MJL]

A few weeks ago I was shoveling the snow off my driveway and in the corner of my eye, saw something chasing a flock of small birds. Didn’t really pay too much attention till I turned around again and saw a hawk sitting on my neighbour’s tree. Called my dad to get his camera and I snapped away. I’ve seen a few hawks in my neighbourhood soaring overhead but never seen one this close. Also could explain why we don’t see the rabbit that use to visit our veggie garden anymore. Just wondering what kind of hawk is it?

 

 

Edited October 28, 2009 by MJL

[OhioFisherman]

Think it`s a redtail.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_Hawk

Edited January 26, 2009 by OhioFisherman

[Tom McCutcheon]

If it's about the size of a Pigeon it is likely a Sharp Shinned Hawk. They are known to hunt near bird feeders and take smaller birds and mice.

 

Tom.

[lew]

I had one of those redtail hawks kill and eat a pigeon in my backyard last winter that was eating some feed I'd put out on the ground.

 

Nothing left of the pigeon but 2 wings and some blood.

[Grimace]

It is either a Sharp Shinned or a youngish Cooper's. Redtail hawks do not have the bars on the under side of the tail. They are white when juvenile and go red when they mature.

 

 

Prolly a Sharpy

[hammercarp]

Definately not a redtail. I think it's a cooper's hawk. I believe sharp shinned hawks legs are not feathered.

Great pictures Mike.

[Grimace]

You will notice that Sharp Shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks have little stumpy wings and long tails for manouvering through trees because they are bird hunters. Red Tail's have broad wings. Death from above

[OhioFisherman]

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBird...iterIDtable.htm

[kemper]

It could probably be caught with the same technique as those sharks...kitten fishing.

 

Hawks are really cool, but the coolest thing I have witnessed with birds was out on Buckhorn lake, looking up at an eagles nest and it came down, soared (too close) close to the boat and my head, and slammed down on a bass that was just under the water. WAY too cool.

 

Took it back up to feed the little ones

[Grimace]

Definately not a redtail. I think it's a cooper's hawk. I believe sharp shinned hawks legs are not feathered.

Great pictures Mike.

 

 

Even Sharpy's have a little feathering on the legs just not as much as say a Red Tail. In winter it seems like more. It looks like down. Cooper's and Sharpy's are almost identicle. Cooper's are a touch bigger. Female Sharpy's and Male Cooper's are almost the exact same size.

 

 

The only way to really tell the difference when they are juvenile like this bird is, is the Tail. Flat bottomed tail = Sharpy bit of roundness to the tail = Cooper's

 

Have to have them sitting almost right in front of you to tell. hard to tell if they are flying or moving. Keep an eye out for the tail next time he sits on the fence.

Edited January 26, 2009 by Grimace

[hammercarp]

Even Sharpy's have a little feathering on the legs just not as much as say a Red Tail. In winter it seems like more. It looks like down. Cooper's and Sharpy's are almost identicle. Cooper's are a touch bigger. Female Sharpy's and Male Cooper's are almost the exact same size.

Good stuff. Thanks for the info. I am slowly learning my hawks.

[MJL]

Here's one more pic that I had to crop and brighten with Photoshop. Followed it into my neighbour's back yard. It wasn't very big. Probably about the size of a crow. I just looked at Ohiofisherman's link and the juvenile coopers hawk and sharp-shinned hawk look the same.LOL

 

 

Thanks guys for the replies

Edited January 26, 2009 by MJL

[Grimace]

Me too.

 

My parents are big birders. They love it. It is amazing how much I picked up from them over the years with out even noticing. However I did call mom over this one and she came up with the tail thing. I did not know that about the tail until she told me. Hence my edited post about the tail.

[Grimace]

Here's one more pic that I had to crop and brighten with Photoshop. Followed it into my neighbour's back yard. It wasn't very big. Probably about the size of a crow. I just looked at Ohiofisherman's link and the juvenile coopers hawk and sharp-shinned hawk look the same.LOL

 

 

Thanks guys for the replies

 

 

Hard to say what it is. Its tail is not all the way in so the longer middle feathers are not showing square. He has his tail a little fanned. Will look curved when fanned out a bit.

 

 

It could be either. Until he is sitting on a fence with his back to you, you might not know.

[anders]

Looks a lot like a juvy coopers hawk to me!

 

Definitly not a red tailed, or sharp shinned like mentioned above

[fishermccann]

I vote Coopers, have seen many hunting my birdfeeder in Pickering!

[ehg]

It is surely a Cooper's hawk.

The last pic of it in flight really confirms it with the rounded tail.

Sharp shinned tails are sharply squared when in flight.

 

Great pictures of a not often seen hawk.

 

 

Kemper, i think you saw an osprey fishing in your story, lots one lake over in Pigeon.

[Grimace]

It is surely a Cooper's hawk.

The last pic of it in flight really confirms it with the rounded tail.

Sharp shinned tails are sharply squared when in flight.

 

Great pictures of a not often seen hawk.

Kemper, i think you saw an osprey fishing in your story, lots one lake over in Pigeon.

 

 

Sharp shinned hawks tails look curved in flight. Sharp Shinned hawks are a little less rare than Cooper's. and the head size difference can be fractions of an inch. Females are more chunky because they carry more weight than males.

 

I am guessing that this is a juvenile female Sharpy. But again it could be a Cooper's as well. People who have been birding for years will still come up with different answers on this one. It is silly to say that this is one or the other for sure.

[ehg]

I am guessing that this is a juvenile female Sharpy. But again it could be a Cooper's as well. People who have been birding for years will still come up with different answers on this one. It is silly to say that this is one or the other for sure.

 

I've been seriously into birding for 20 yrs. and have seen many sharp-shinned fly over my head while in the woods of N.Ontario. They seemed to always have sharply squared tails in flight. But whatever, it was the crow size comment that primarily made me think Cooper. Great photos again!

[fishing n autograph]

not a red tail. Red Tails are huge compared to other hawk species in Ontario. I'm pretty sure it's the largest bird of prey next to Bald Eagles, Osprey's and Turkey Vultures.

[MJL]

I've been seriously into birding for 20 yrs. and have seen many sharp-shinned fly over my head while in the woods of N.Ontario. They seemed to always have sharply squared tails in flight. But whatever, it was the crow size comment that primarily made me think Cooper. Great photos again!

 

Whatever species of hawk it is, it's definitely not a bird I see in my neighbourhood very often. In terms of coolness, this encounter is up there with the time I found an injured nighthawk on my driveway - we took it to the animal shelter in a shoe box. On that note I'm hoping to get more into nature photography this year while I'm out fishing. Thanks again for your comments

[xeon]

90% sure thats a juvinile Coopers Hawk. How I tell is by the amount of colour on the breast, and this bird doesnt have as much as a typical juvinile sharp shinned would.

[Riparian]

I am seeing more hawks on our farm this year than ever before. Since the winter set in ive been seeing one on average every couple of days. I always assumed they were red tail hawks, but after reading this thread im not so sure. The hawks ive been seeing looked more like a juvenile coopers hawk but I really cant be sure.

 

In the fall I had a dozen or so layer chickens outside free ranging. I came around the shed in time to see a really small hawk nail one of my full grown hens dead on. He then nonchalantly circled around and sat on a tree watching the chicken run for its life uninjured. Must have been a lack of experience on the hawks part.

 

Funniest thing was when my rooster came running in full tilt kill mode. He would have met that hawk on the ground if he could. Still makes me laugh just to think about it.

[CLofchik]

 

 

 

Atlantic.......................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pikeie]

looks like a immature coopers to me. with the rounded tail and all. but one thing i noticed was the colour paterns on the tail feathers kinda look more like a sharp-shinned hawk. if it truly was the size of a crow there would be a better chance of it being a coopers, because a sharp-shinned hawk typical size is 10-14 inches. while a coopers hawk is 14-20 inches. great pictures!!