falcon or hawk?

ShebaJo

Hi... need help on bird id.

I am thinking a falcon, but maybe a hawk? Shooting out my front window through glass and screen, so shots are not very good. It was after something in the bushes... if it was a mouse, I hope it got it. ;)p





and finally, this one... very poor quality, but can't pan when flying directly at me. neighbor boy will be thrilled that he can show his legs, as proof he really was this close and did scare the big bird.

Dogdots

I wonder if it is a Golden Eagle -- young one

kdog

It's either a coopers hawk or sharp shinned hawk. It's hard to tell which from the pictures. They're very similar in shape and color, with the coopers being the larger of the two.

ShebaJo

Dogdots wrote:

I wonder if it is a Golden Eagle -- young one

hmmm... that would be way cool... I would love having an eagle in my yard.

I wish my pics were better, makes it more difficult. I just noticed I had the cpl filter on, great for shooting in the sun, not so good for in cloudy, icky weather.

ShebaJo

kdog wrote:

It's either a coopers hawk or sharp shinned hawk. It's hard to tell which from the pictures. They're very similar in shape and color, with the coopers being the larger of the two.

cool... thanks. Does location help id? Western Colorado

THANKS

kdog

ShebaJo wrote:

cool... thanks. Does location help id? Western Colorado

THANKS

Sometimes, but not in this case. They're both present year-round in your area.

Maestro

The rounded tail feathers means that this is a Cooper's Hawk. I am 95% sure. The only other option is sharp-shinned but their tails are much more squared at the end. I'd also say that this is a juvenile as well. Nice find.

Docdpp

My bet is a female Cooper's hawk. It is a little hard to tell without much to compare it to except the fence for size. I have falconer friends that hunt with both those and sharp-shinned hawks, so I see them up close and persoanl quite often. It is definetly not a falcon.

doc

jecottrell

I think he(she) was visiting here in Arizona too.

ShebaJo

Maestro wrote:

The rounded tail feathers means that this is a Cooper's Hawk. I am 95% sure. The only other option is sharp-shinned but their tails are much more squared at the end. I'd also say that this is a juvenile as well. Nice find.

Thanks! I hope it comes back, and I get better shots. Now that I have the camera in the house, by the front window, it probably won't be back.

ShebaJo

jecottrell wrote:

I think he(she) was visiting here in Arizona too.

NICE shot. It does look like our visitor. And, ours was in the yucca, rose bush area. Maybe they prefer that type of terrain?

Dogdots

ShebaJo wrote:

Thanks! I hope it comes back, and I get better shots. Now that I have the camera in the house, by the front window, it probably won't be back.

Move the camera away from the front window....then maybe it will come back

Docdpp

Cooper's Hawks are bird hunting hawks. Watch your bird feeders. They raid them regularly. In Arizona they hunt quail also.

Cool shot by the catus.

Here are two shots I took of wild Coopers' Hawks in Tyler, Tx

This one gives you an idea of size. This is a female with a full grown pigeon. A little OOF because I shot from the car before she could fly with her prey.



Break in the rain, she is drying her wings. Again from the car.

ShebaJo

Docdpp wrote:

Cooper's Hawks are bird hunting hawks. Watch your bird feeders. They raid them regularly. In Arizona they hunt quail also.

Cool shot by the catus.

Here are two shots I took of wild Coopers' Hawks in Tyler, Tx

This one gives you an idea of size. This is a female with a full grown pigeon. A little OOF because I shot from the car before she could fly with her prey.

Nice shots. I hate to see the dove though. I saw a couple dove feathers on the lawn a week or so ago, knew something had to have happened to it... the hawk really makes me sad.

We have feeders all over our yards... may have to take some down, but the birdies rely on them. There were probably a hundred in the front yard earlier today, fighting over feeder space.

Thanks for the info... is there anything I can do to ward off the hawk, not remove all our feeders?

ShebaJo

Dogdots wrote:

Move the camera away from the front window....then maybe it will come back

hmmm... move the camera away from the window if I do that, the neighbors might think I am not spying on them. actually they are more used to me shooting snakes, than out windows, but when the camera is on the tripod, long lens... they get nervous

Dogdots

ShebaJo wrote:

hmmm... move the camera away from the window if I do that, the neighbors might think I am not spying on them. actually they are more used to me shooting snakes, than out windows, but when the camera is on the tripod, long lens... they get nervous

I'd be nervous to if I saw 5 legs coming towards me