Can anyone help me identify this hawk?
Yesterday on our walk, Skippy and I came across this hawk. He was in the bushes pulling at something. When he saw us, he flew into a tree with what looked like a pine cone and leaves. There must have been something tasty in there too. Grubs or a rodent.
BTW, here's a Red-Tailed story my Mom sent me: "One Hawk Per Mile".
15 comments:
I think it's a Red Tailed Hawk.
What a fabulous specimen ! Probably gathering material for the nest. Splendid photos !
It looks exactly like the pictures of the Broad-Winged Hawk in my book, similar poses and everything!
Could it be a Cooper's hawk?
The Cooper's Hawk in my book is much much much more steel gray. The juvenile has really stark dark bands on the underside of the tail (broader and darker than in your pictures) and a striped head.
You could post on whatbird.com (there's a forum for it, just say "saw this in a field near some conservation land in eastern MA" can I get a positive identification? I've done it lots of times and been blown away with the responses and response times! That's how I found out I had seen (and gotten a really terrible photograph) of a Cuckoo down at the gardens.
Hi Kathy Nice photos
I am pretty sure it is a red tailed hawk, light phase immature, no red eyes, the dark red upper tail and pinkish underside of the tail and also the barred belly band are the best field marks, but their plumage can vary a lot from the Golden book of bird identification. Great photo's for sure!! Regards,
Rich @ NY Homesteader
Yes. I think red tail sounds like a good ID. They are very prevalent here.
Just confusing because he seemed small for a red tail. And I couldn't see any red or pink on tail. And bib hard to see.
The broad wings aren't here in the winter - they're down in the tropics now. Can't imagine they'd come back yet.
Agreed that it's a red tail - in the bottom left photo you can see his 'necklace', that's an identifier.
It's too big to be a Cooper's Hawk. Cooper's are accipiters; they have a much different body shape than buteos, most notably they have a thinner body and a much longer tail.
I posted to whatbird.com just now.
Whatever type of hawk he is...he is gorgeous. Hawks are one of my favorite birds...I see them often here in California...they are amazing creatures.
Great shots Kathy! Definitely looks like a young red tailed to me. Must have been really close at 85mm. It is so nice to see all the Hawks & Eagles around now.
Beautiful hawk pictures, Kathy. He looks like the hawk we have that nests near Baldpate Pond--that family I know is a Red-tail hawk family, as numerous people have told me so. Perhaps the "red tail" develops later in the year. I'll be interested in what "whatbird.com" has to say. Keep us posted.
I see so many interesting looking birds. Some I never noticed before. I was looking at a bunch of small sparrow-like birds in my neighbor's driveway and then I noticed that their breasts were tinted with a subtle greenish color. I wish I had my camera. Hope you find out what bird this was.
Wow!
hi alice!
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