Bird of Prey ID

[david3 0]

Is anyone good at identifying birds? I have seen a bird of prey around my neighborhood for the last few years but don’t know what it is. I occasionally see Red Tailed Hawks around here but not in my neighborhood. I live a block and a half from the center of a town with a population of about 16 thousand in an area of about 3 square miles in southeastern PA.

This bird is smaller than that. I have seen it (or another one) chasing and catching smaller birds. Today as I walked past the window and glanced out I saw it sitting in my neighbor’s yard on the ground. It didn’t move for a minute and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I thought it was a piece of dirty, shoveled snow. Once it finally moved I realized it was sitting on a squirrel. I took a few pictures from my window but when someone walking on the sidewalk passed within a few feet of the bird I decided to go outside and see if I couldn’t get a closer shot.

While all of this was going on a second squirrel was obviously very agitated and walking around the bird while staying in the safety of the bushes a few feet away.

I managed to get about 25 feet away and snapped this photo. If you don’t want to see a dead squirrel (nothing gory) don’t click the attachment.

So does anyone now what it may be?

[turtlespeed 226]

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Is anyone good at identifying birds? I have seen a bird of prey around my neighborhood for the last few years but don’t know what it is. I occasionally see Red Tailed Hawks around here but not in my neighborhood. I live a block and a half from the center of a town with a population of about 16 thousand in an area of about 3 square miles in southeastern PA.

This bird is smaller than that. I have seen it (or another one) chasing and catching smaller birds. Today as I walked past the window and glanced out I saw it sitting in my neighbor’s yard on the ground. It didn’t move for a minute and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I thought it was a piece of dirty, shoveled snow. Once it finally moved I realized it was sitting on a squirrel. I took a few pictures from my window but when someone walking on the sidewalk passed within a few feet of the bird I decided to go outside and see if I couldn’t get a closer shot.

While all of this was going on a second squirrel was obviously very agitated and walking around the bird while staying in the safety of the bushes a few feet away.

I managed to get about 25 feet away and snapped this photo. If you don’t want to see a dead squirrel (nothing gory) don’t click the attachment.

So does anyone now what it may be?

I dunno - but it looks like it would taste just like a spotted owl.

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

[faulk04 0]

looks like a Broad-winged Hawk to me. Do you have any other pictures of it? A tail shot would make it real easy to identify. Did you get a good look at the tail? Did it have 1 white stripe in between 2 blacks stripes?

[firemedic 7]

So does anyone now what it may be?

[Anvilbrother 0]

Chicken hawk

Postes r made from an iPad or iPhone. Spelling and gramhair mistakes guaranteed move along,

[Remster 30]

It's a AN-2.

Remster

[stitch 0]

Definitely a Tae Kwan Doh Doh.

"No cookies for you"- GFD
"I don't think I like the sound of that" ~ MB65
Don't be a "Racer Hater"

[david3 0]

[reply
I dunno - but it looks like it would taste just like a spotted owl.

[david3 0]

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looks like a Broad-winged Hawk to me. Do you have any other pictures of it? A tail shot would make it real easy to identify. Did you get a good look at the tail? Did it have 1 white stripe in between 2 blacks stripes?

Unfortunately this is the best photo. I’ll find some Broad-winged hawk photos and some of the other suggestions on line to see if I can match them up.

[david3 0]

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So does anyone now what it may be?

I believe that is a Falcon

[Remster 30]

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[reply
I dunno - but it looks like it would taste just like a spotted owl.

I staked a turtle out there to see if it will come back.

[david3 0]

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Chicken hawk

You may get this moved to SC.

I looked that up on line and you may be right. Very similar looking.

[turtlespeed 226]

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[reply
I dunno - but it looks like it would taste just like a spotted owl.

I staked a turtle out there to see if it will come back.

That's not very nice. You should stop teasing the hawk and put the bait on it's back.

[npgraphicdesign 3]

Looks like Skymama taking out a turtle.

[faulk04 0]

you do know that the chicken hawk is not a specific bird name? It is an unoffical name of three different hawks: the Cooper's Hawk, the Sharp-shinned Hawk and the Red-tailed Hawk It may seem like im coming off as an ass but I just wanted to clarify it in case it is on jeopardy one day!

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

How about a Sharp Shinned Hawk?

We have a lot of them around me. They do a pretty good job keeping the mournng doves in check. I have neighbors that finally gave up putting the bird feeders back up after the hawks kept taking them down. I always called them "Hawk food feeders"

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[david3 0]

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you do know that the chicken hawk is not a specific bird name? It is an unoffical name of three different hawks: the Cooper's Hawk, the Sharp-shinned Hawk and the Red-tailed Hawk It may seem like im coming off as an ass but I just wanted to clarify it in case it is on jeopardy one day!

Now I am confused.

Thanks

[firemedic 7]

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So does anyone now what it may be?

I believe that is a Falcon

My first thought but I can’t find any info on a falcon native to this area.

[faulk04 0]

Here is a picture of the Broad-winged that I suggested earlier http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/MDA_020503_100003_S.jpg

if you compare it to yours they look very similar. I am a little hesitant on saying that I know for a fact that it is a Broad-winged because the ones we have where I live barely eat squirrels since they will waste a good amount of energy catching the squirrel. Also like I said earlier if you can remember what the tail looks like the next time you see it and it has a wide white stripe in between 2 black stripes on the tail it is probably a Broad-winged

I do know its not a peregrine falcon though. I feed two of them daily :)

[david3 0]

Thanks everybody. Now that I have looked at photos of the suggested birds I know what to look for. I am sending the photo to local ornithological club to see if they can help. I’ll let you know.

[regulator 0]

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Thanks everybody. Now that I have looked at photos of the suggested birds I know what to look for. I am sending the photo to local ornithological club to see if they can help. I’ll let you know.

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Hmmm that seems weird...it seems to be an absence of a certain ornithological piece...a headline regarding mass awareness of a certain avian vareity...oh have you not heard? It was my understanding that everyone had heard...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WNrx2jq184

[david3 0]

Okay, it was just out there again. Exact same place. It let me get within about 10 feet of it. It only had a small piece of the squirrel left. I took about 15 more photos and some video. Very Cool. I'm happy to see wild animals move back into populated areas.

[ryoder 1,590]

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Chicken hawk

You may get this moved to SC.

I looked that up on line and you may be right. Very similar looking.

Shush!
(Maybe Amazon won't notice.)

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[wolfriverjoe 1,523]

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Okay, it was just out there again. Exact same place. It let me get within about 10 feet of it. It only had a small piece of the squirrel left. I took about 15 more photos and some video. Very Cool. I'm happy to see wild animals move back into populated areas.

I've been amazed at how close a hawk will allow me to get. If they have a good "out", they don't seem to mind me being within 8-10 ft. They are far more interested in eating than fleeing.
Of course, they have some pretty serious talons with which to defend themselves if they feel threatened.

We have a variety of hawks and quite a few bald eagles around here. The paper mill in town keeps the river from freezing over, so we end up with upwards of 25 pairs of bald eagles wintering in the area. Since the mills stopped polluting the river, the fish (and birds of prey) have come back nicely.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[JohnnyD 0]

Red Tailed Hawk

Actually the tail looks pretty gray/black like a Cooper.

Short answer - Hawk