help identifying hawk (1 Viewer)

[tubac112]

I am new to the forums and a relatively new birder. I am looking foward to learning a lot here. I would like some help in identifying a hawk that was sitting on the fence in our yard in Chico CA. We are traveling and my daughter sent me several photos. How can I post them to get your expert opinion?

 

[KC Foggin]

Hi tubac and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:

You can simply click on edit in your first post and then click on "manage attachments" click on "browse" to find the photos in your computer, double click on the photo once you've found it and then click on "upload" It may take a little bit depending on your connection. Once you see the name of your photo in that window you can click on "close window". Remember though it cannot be larger than 800x800 and 200kbs

 

[tubac112]

thanks KC I did that and now I await some help with the ID

 

[jcwings]

Cooper's Hawk Accipiter cooperii

One good mark for Coop is the pale band at the tip of the tail

 

[Katy Penland]

Agree with jcwings, Cooper's. Another tip is the thickness of the legs. Sharp-shinned Hawks have almost spindly looking legs by comparison. Its rather large size is a good indicator, too. In the 2nd photo, it's perched on a standard 4x4 post so you can get an idea of how big the bird is overall. Sharpies average about 11" long, much shorter than this guy. :t:

 

[tubac112]

jwwings and katy:
thanks so much for the help! I appreciate the "learning tools" also. My daughter called me to say this hawk is making a regular perch out of this spot. She has found two headless pigeons below that spot. I was kind of surpised at that--is this normal hawk behavior?

 

[Katy Penland]

Hmmm, not sure about that. I would've thought a Coop would immediately eat any prey it's killed, not just kill and leave it. I wonder if another animal has killed the pigeons? I don't think Cooper's will eat carrion, so if the pigeons were already dead, the bird would just ignore the bodies but it looks suspicious since they're all in such close proximity. But like I say, I'm not at all sure about this so hopefully someone else can answer that for us. :t:

 

[tubac112]

Hawk behavior

Hmmm, not sure about that. I would've thought a Coop would immediately eat any prey it's killed, not just kill and leave it. I wonder if another animal has killed the pigeons? I don't think Cooper's will eat carrion, so if the pigeons were already dead, the bird would just ignore the bodies but it looks suspicious since they're all in such close proximity. But like I say, I'm not at all sure about this so hopefully someone else can answer that for us. :t:

Katy:
These were my thoughts exactly. There are cats around (not ours) and I thought perhaps a cat got the pigeons and left the carcass. What is really odd is that I haven't seen pigeons around our house. I thought the Coop was drawn to our yard because I have about 4 feeders scattered around and I figured he thought there would be easy pickins! My daughter and g-dtrs call me "bird woman" so my daughter was calling me today to ask how she could "train" the hawk not to leave dead bodies around

 

[Katy Penland]

LOL! Well, if she or you figure that one out, I'll hire you to train my resident Sharp-shinned Hawk to take only the more prolific species at my feeders and leave the onesies-twosies alone.

 

[tubac112]

Hey Katy I just saw you are in AZ! We are presently building down here for our winter spot. I am so excited about the birding opportunities here! I'll keep you posted on our CA Coop's activities!

 

[Katy Penland]

Yep, I'm a CA ex-pat (Santa Monica), temporarily living in AZ. Right. Temporary. Been here 5 winters now.