OT.....back yard nature shows.....

Yep, Looks like an adult Cooper's Hawk.

Keith Newton

They do get their share of songbirds.

Either that or the Sharp Shinned Hawk

Re: OT.....back yard nature shows.....

roger lance

You guys know your birds.....took a look on the net and your suggestions seem correct.....if there is a next time, maybe I'll get a better picture.

Thanks, but next time also take a measurement

Keith Newton

If it's over 14" it is the Coopers, and under that will be the Sharpie.

Will the hawk stand still for that ??.....

roger lance

It's 9 3/8" from the feeder's roof peak to the bottom of its side.....so, the hawk body is about 10" or so.....one can only guess at the length of its tail.

Years ago there was a TV nature show by Marty Stouffer (Wild America....I think) and he did a show about the natural dramas taking place in your own back yard.....he was right.

On a somewhat happier note

AZ in Colorado Springs

This morning there were a dozen (I think -- it was hard to count them) hummingbirds hovering over the feeder in my backyard, taking turns getting a drink (or a bite to eat). I've never seen that happen quite that way before.

Re: Will the hawk stand still for that ??.....

John K Jordan

>>>Years ago there was a TV nature show by Marty Stouffer (Wild America....I think) and he did a show about the natural dramas taking place in your own back yard.....he was right

We get a lot of drama here too! Every morning there are two hawks, redtail I think, on the fence across the field behind the barn. I've seen them catching frogs and tadpoles in the little pond and diving for something, probably field mice.

One was in a tree in the front of the barn when my black rabbit started across the field. Talk about hawk drama. When hawk dived to grab the rabbit one of the big male peacocks jumped off his perch and drove the hawk away! Surprised me, but shouldn't have - the peacock was probably at least 10x the mass of the hawk!

JKJ

Re: Will the hawk stand still for that ??.....

Stuart Johnson

Size isn't everything. Have you ever seen a mockingbird go after crow?

Re: Will the hawk stand still for that ??.....

roger lance

A few weeks back, I was watching a squirrel eating fallen bird seeds at the base of the feeder when a different hawk swooped in on the squirrel.....but missed. The squirrel jumped away a few feet in shock....then turned on the hawk and charged him. The squirrel came to his senses about half way to the hawk and ran off into the underbrush and safety.

I think that hawk was a juvenile red tail. Soon, bluejays showed up and began taking turns trying to peck the hawk's head.....the hawk endured this briefly and left.

Re: On a somewhat happier note

roger lance

That is a much happier scene......I only get the occasional fleeting glimpse of a hummingbird moving quickly around the flowering plants.

So what's the problem...

Lee Schierer - McKean, PA

It's a bird feeder and that bird wants to eat.

We get a sharp shinned hawk that visits our feeder all winter long at leas once per week. It occasionally looks like a mourning dove explodes in mid flight.

Lee

Good entertainment

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

"looks like a mourning dove explodes in mid flight"

That would be more fun than shooting them where they also less explode in mid flight. They aren't bad eating, fixed right, but they aren't so good that I would begrudge sharing with the hawk.

Doves build an embarrassingly poorly constructed nest. The young usually fall out before they can fly and wander around the farm bewildered for a few days. One year I cleaned out from around the lathe and discarded some long thin aluminum shavings. They showed up in the dove next. We speculated that the lazy bird hoped to build a permanent nest to save the trouble next year.