Hawk help..

I have several hawks prowling around the neighborhood these days. My feeders are obviously a buffet for everyone. However, I am having a wicked time identifying my hawks.

I HEAR Red-tailed hawks. I see larger birds soaring above the houses. However, I am seeing some death-defying acrobatics near my trees and feeders. The birds that give me my fly-bys are not stopping. Or, if they are, they stop pretty far away....far enough to make IDs difficult.

I didn't think RTs went after small birds this often, nor lived so close to wooded areas, but that is definitely what I hear. However, any bird I've seen that would make sense to be a Cooper's is immature in it's markings.

I haven't heard a Red-shouldered or Cooper's in quite some time. But, have heard both at times.

Can anyone give me some positive ID markings to look for that may help me ID from a distance of say 100 yds?

Good luck with that I'm in exactly the same situation - I mean, exactly. I could have written what you did

A fellow named Jerry Liquori has a couple of books that I just bought that would probably help you, Hawks From Any Angle and Hawks At A Distance. They are reputed to be the best raptor guides on the market.

Al

The problem with providing ways for you to ID them is the Hawks you are seeing could be juvenile Hawks...then everything is different. Red-tailed Hawks aren't normally attracted to feeders although if times are hard they will go after almost anything. I watched one stalk a Mouring Dove on the ground so birds are obviously part of their diet.

Coopers and Sharp-shinned Hawks are known to fly through brush after songbirds and they maneuver fairly well through it....I have one that frequents my yard and it will actually fly into the hedge after birds hiding in it.

I thought it'd be tough to positively ID these guys....there are likely more than one anyway. I can tell you that yesterday when the hawk came screaming through the yard, he made some superior moves to dodge tree trunks and my deck posts. It was phenomenally acrobatic to watch.

If I could just get one to sit still.

I see red-shouldered hawks on the power lines, you have to shoot from the car and do the ID later! I have had a couple fly over me at my back yard when watching my feeder

Chopper -- WE up here in Central Missouri have resident pair of Red Shouldered hawks that live in the
30 or so wooded acres near our home. I thought for the longest time they were Coopers. Then I got some shots of them -- I said "holy crap" what are these ? I did a little research and with listening to the calls of the Red Shouldereds-- both live and recorded -- there is no mixing them up. Listen to the calls -- I will post a few picts when I get home later on.

Also my wife thinks they have attacked the songbirds at our feeders -- I am not so sure of this.

Here's the pict of the male and female pair -- in my backyard

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The ones I've seen have whiter color in the breast, but that could be juvie or individual coloring I'm sure. I've heard the calls, and know for a fact I have red-shouldereds around. However, I also have Cooper's, Sharp-shinned, and Red-tails. The hardest part for me is to ID them when I see them.

I saw a pile of Cardinal feathers under the feeder last year. I also missed a shot of one not 15 feet outside my window....errr blind....last winter (that one still irks the hell out of me). And, I saw the one zoom through last week.

If I get a pic of one, you can be real sure I'm posting it up for ID within the hour. Their calls are the only way I can ID them when they are around. And, the sucky thing is they don't make any noise when ambushing....lol....so​, I never know who it is.

I only wish they would take the squirrels. I know the red-shouldereds and red-tails will....I've seen that in my old neighborhood. But, I've only seen piles of feathers over here....only a mile down the road as the crow flies.

Oh, the female looks about right, but even she's a tad dark compared to what I see here.

The raptors that are chasing the birds at your feeder are most likely either Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawks (Maybe a Merlin if your lucky, but they tend to just pass through once before never coming back, Coopers and Sharp-shinned will stake out a feeder for a week or two).

Buteos like Red-tailed and Red-shouldered don't have a tendency to chase small songbirds, the specialize in other animals like mice, rabbits, and squirrels. They are just too big for chasing small songbirds.

The best method for IDing Sharp-shinned and Cooper's at long range is to look at their tail. When flying, a Sharp-shinned will have a flat square tail, while a Cooper's will have a round tail. Just do a search for each of them in flight and see what I mean. It takes some practice to get good at IDing them when they are screaming through your yard, but you'll get the hang of it.

Happy Birding,
Evan

Thanks for the comment, Evan. Here's the best I can come up with of late.

One thing I forgot to mention was Accipiters (Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, and Goshawk) have yellow or orange eyes (depending on age) and Buteos have brown eyes. Your shot above looks to be a Red-shouldered Hawk, but the angle is funny.

I too have a hard time identifying the different hawks, but I am new to this. I got this pic today and they hardly ever land this close to my house. I had a hard time telling if the focus was right since he was in the shade mostly and pretty far off and my T2 is not easy to tell with its poor viewfinder, at least with my eyes I guess. I took a bunch of pics trying to look through live view and zoom in but all the movement in live view made it hard to fix on it and get the focus right. The AF system just kept trying to focus the tree or leafs. I think it is red tail though. Maybe not. I tried to tell him to jump to the branch that was in the light and out from behind the leafs and branches but he didn't want to listen.

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chopper5654 wrote in post #13525538
Thanks for the comment, Evan. Here's the best I can come up with of late.

Juvenile Red-shouldered. You can see a hint of the red coming in on the flank. Also, these birds are VERY vocal. I hear them way more often than any other. I see quite a few Sharpies and Red-tailed, but rarely hear them.

No Angle, yours looks to be a Red-tailed Hawk, judging by the white breast band.