New Bird Feeder

So I put out a bird feeder to attract birds like the second shot to my back yard. But then the squirrel mafia moved in took it over.... and I was tempted to not restock it. But I did anyway, and t my surprise, the birds brought in the big guns. So as it turns out.... put out bird feeder to attract birds -> which attracted squirrels which chased away the birds -> which attracted in the big guy... and it became bird feeder again. The squirrel presence is decidedly smaller now. And all kinds of birds have returned.

The Hawk... is that a red tailed hawk? I know next to nothing about them. It was interesting in that they were hunting in pairs.... didn't know they did that either.

Ha. We have had generations of red-tails (they come for the bird bath). Way too many squirrels. The hawks take an occasional tree-rat but not enough to discourage the others. Plus, one squirrel chased a hawk out of our crab apple tree and then walked across open ground to the "bird feeder" while the hawk was looking at it from another tree. Guess we have tough squirrels.

I'm not great with identifying Hawks, but I would say it is not a Red-tailed Hawk because they generally have a "belly band" consisting of darker feathers in the middle.

Thanks for the info... looked it up and yes, that looks like it was a possibility too - I was depressed that all I got was the most common hawk type in North America. Either way, it was interesting watching him/her watching the squirrel, and the squirrel watching back. Fun stuff.....

We also have a very large owl that hangs out in the mornings.... but no idea what kind he/she is. But much larger than your barn owl variety. And no good shots yet... working on it.

Great story, for sure That is either a Cooper's or Sharp-shinned hawk (one of the Accipiters, rather than Bueto [RTH, Broadwinged, Red-shouldered, etc). This guy's much too slight and the breast pattern matches the smaller ones; the smaller, pigeon-like head nudges me to Sharp-shinned; but they're *really* difficult to tell apart without side by side.

Definitely an immature accipiter. Both Copper's and Sharp-shinned mainly eat birds, although Coops will sometimes take squirrels. So even if you figure out how to discourage the squirrels you can expect the hawks to keep visiting.