The Zen Birdfeeder

Diagnosis: Sharp-shinned Hawk

I still have trouble at times telling the difference between a Sharp-shinned Hawk and a Cooper's Hawk.  I've read a number of resources to help differentiate them, and just when I think I have it down, I see one that I just can't quite identify with certainty.

The problem is you can't just use one field mark to tell the difference.  Cooper's Hawks are bigger...sometimes.  Sharpie's tails look squared off...sometimes.  And then there's the comparative field marks like the Cooper's head is larger or the sharpie legs are thinner.  Yeah, if they were sitting side-by-side, that would be easy!  And I find the in-flight characteristics like the Cooper's slower wing beats, or that the sharpie's small head doesn't extend past the wings even harder to pick out.

So I like when one of them flies up, nice and close, sits for a just a little while, and shows a number of field marks nice and clearly with little room for interpretation.

Like this guy (or gal).  Rusty barring on chest, slaty back, red eye tells me adult bird, either species.  That's the easy part.  Smaller size...thinkin' sharpie.  Nice squared off tail...another point for a sharpie.  Skinny little legs...sharpie.  More subjective (to my eyes) is the broader chest and narrower bottom of the sharpie.

Okay, I think I've got this one down.  Sharp-shinned Hawk it is!  But chances are when the next hawk comes through my yard, I'll have my bird books out again!

Here's two good sources:
Tricky Bird IDs on the Cornell Lab Project FeederWatch site and Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding

It's Always About the Birds!

On Sunday, we had a Holiday Open House at our Wild Birds Unlimited shop.  Besides the usual stuff like refreshments and giveaways, prize drawings and specials, we also had a volunteer from North Country Wild Care, our local wildlife rehabilitation group, bring a Eurasian Eagle Owl to show.

The Eurasian Eagle Owl is one of the largest owls in the world, weighing 6 pounds and boasting a wingspan of up to 5 feet.  Native to wide area of Europe and Asia, this particular owl, named Wyatt, was born 3 years ago in captivity here in the United States.

He lives with his handler Trish, who is one of the dedicated volunteers of North Country Wild Care.  North Country volunteers work with injured, orphaned, or debilitated birds and other wildlife in a nine-county area of eastern New York State.  Many customers and local residents think of calling our shop when they find an injured bird; we, in turn, refer them to the rehab group's hotline.  We know that the bird will be taken care of by well-trained volunteers.

Just seeing Trish handle Wyatt and as she shared information about him with our customers, you can see the love and dedication she puts into his well-being.  When Trish picked him off his perch and he flapped his wings to right himself, Lois and I got to experience a little of his awesome size and power - the draft created by his flapping wings was amazing, and was felt by others standing nearly 10 feet away!

To help support the work being done by North Country Wild Care, Lois and I have started our first Holiday Match Program:

Until end of business Christmas Eve,
we will match up to $500
all in-store cash or check donations
to North Country Wild Care. 

Nothing would make us happier or prouder than to present a combined $1,000 to North Country Wild Care. 

Please help us achieve that goal: stop by the shop before Christmas and drop off whatever amount you can in the collection box.  Every dollar, every five, every ten, every twenty, will be MATCHED up to $500. 

Thank you and we hope you'll join us in supporting this group that works so hard for the birds and other wildlife.

Window Strike!

This shadowy image is what was left on my window after an unknown bird hit a window while fleeing a hawk.  I saw the hawk leave the area after I heard the strike, but this time, the intended prey escaped his attack.

Mourning Doves often leave very powdery marks on a window they come in contact with, and the size was about right for a dove.  I was fascinated how the body, face, left eye, and left wing are all clearly evident. 

Unfortunately, even when birds fly off from a window strike, they sometimes die from the internal injuries they sustained.

Wordless Wednesday - Like Eyes on the Back of His Head

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Another Hawk of the Forest: The Broad-winged Hawk

When I think of woodland hawks, I think of the accipiters: Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, and Northern Goshawk.  All are relatively short winged, all the better for them to maneuver through trees.  These hawks are hunters of birds, making the sharpie and Cooper's the most likely for many of us to see in our yards.

Little did I know that one of the buteos I see most often is also a forest bird.

I often hear and then see the Broad-winged Hawk in the skies well over my house, especially during spring and fall migration.  And every once in a while, one gives us a closer look.

What I didn't know is that the Broad-winged Hawk nests in mature deciduous or mixed deciduous-coniferous forests.  You can look for them perched along forested roads.  Migrating broad-wingeds are known to stop for the night in forests.

I was also surprised by the broad-winged's measurements especially compared to the accipiters:

	Length	Wingspan	Weight
Broad-winged Hawk	15"	34"	14 oz.
Sharp-shinned Hawk	11"	23"	5 oz.
Cooper's Hawk	16.5"	31"	16 oz.
Northern Goshawk	21"	41"	2.1 lb.

Smaller in length and lighter in weight than the Cooper's Hawk, with a little longer wingspan, the Broad-winged Hawk seems to nestle in nicely with the accipiters, though in all ways, it's dwarfed by the goshawk.  Broad-wingeds eat birds as well, in addition to their diet of small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.  And just like the accipiters, they will hunt by flying through woods looking for prey.

But unlike many individuals in the accipiter genus, all Broad-winged Hawks migrate, leaving the continent to winter in Central and South America.

Living in a forested area like I do, I'll now be more alert to the possibility of a Broad-winged Hawk in my midst.

Sources:  Sibley Guide to Birds, David Sibley; Lives of North American Birds, Kenn Kaufman

Yard Bird #94 - Red-tailed Hawk

I was frankly surprised when I looked at my yard list and saw I was missing the Red-tailed Hawk.

We've had all the accipiters - Sharp-shinned, Cooper's and even Northern Goshawk.  And we are lucky to be in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains where we can enjoy migrating raptors in the thermals overhead.  We mostly see (or are able to identify) Broad-winged Hawks, and even had a nice fly-by visit from one.  Broad-wings are known to inhabit mixed and deciduous woods like where I live.

Broad-winged Hawk

But until this week, I can't say I've positively identified a Red-tail Hawk in the skies over my house.  But a clear, repeated "keeerr-r-r  keeerr-r-r" tipped me off to its presence overhead.

Yard Bird #94 - Red-tailed Hawk

It gave me a fairly good look, good enough for me to see its characteristic belly band and its kind of beat up tail.

The Red-tailed Hawk become yard bird #94, and my second new yard bird of the year!

Wordless Wednesday - Young Sharpie

Sharp-shinned Hawk immature
September 2011

Eight Hundred and One Barred Owls

What do you get when you have 801 Barred Owls calling in a single place?

Hopefully, a Guinness world record!

801 attendees at the 2011 Midwest Birding Symposium gathered in the Hoover Auditorium at Lakeside Ohio last Saturday and, under the direction of the bird call lady Nicole Perretta, called out that familiar Barred Owl call, "who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?"

Three times these 801 voices called out in hopes of establishing a Guinness world record for the most people imitating a bird call in unison.

What fun being part of a possible Guinness World Record, even though in the process, we caused the local Barred Owls to seek out a new territory (only kidding!)

Be part of the fun.  The Midwest Birding Symposium will return to Lakeside OH in September of 2013.

Broad-winged Hawk Fly-by

While sitting on the deck today photographing hummingbirds, I heard the piercing, whistle-like call of a Broad-winged Hawk overhead.  Fall hawk migration is underway!

Here in the foothills of the Adirondacks, I'm lucky to get a number of migrating hawks overhead, and today there was a nice breeze coming out of the northwest that apparently the hawks found to their liking.

The first hawk was high in the the sky, as was the next broad-winged that passed over.  But a couple minutes later, I heard the call again and this one paid a much closer visit, flying perhaps only 50-feet high and circling the yard a couple times.

 

Broad-wings are small buteos, and their 13-17" length could even be shorter than that of the Cooper's Hawks that visit the yard.  But they're chunkier birds and their wings are much broader and typically longer.  Though their diet does include other birds, we're much more likely to have Cooper's or Sharp-shinned Hawk cruising the birdfeeders for a meal.

Broad-wingeds typically hunt from a perch, but his close aerial presence had cleared the yard of birds and chipmunks anyway.  I enjoyed his relatively close fly-by as he journeys to his winter grounds in Mexico, Central- or South America.

Identifying Common Backyard Hawks

Feeding the birds and wildlife in your yard can sometimes bring unexpected visitors, including hawks. Here are the two most common hawks to visit backyards, some tips to tell them apart, and how to deter them. 

OUR COMMON BACKYARD HAWKS

Sharp-shinned Hawk
(adult pictured)
• Blue Jay-sized, about 11" from head to tail
• Tip of the tail is squarish, showing corners.  Narrow white band at end.
• Head appears small compared with the body and makes the sharpie look short-necked
• Broad chest and narrow hips give it a high center of gravity
• Thin, stick-like legs make them look longish
• Short, rounded wings in flight

Cooper's Hawk
(juvenile pictured)
• Crow-sized, about 16½" from head to tail
• Tip of the tail is rounded with longer tail feathers in the middle.  Broad white band at end.
• Head appears large compared with the body and the body looks tall
• Thick body with a low center of gravity
• Thick legs compared to sharpie makes them look short
• In flight, has a cross-like shape

NOTE:  If you think you've seen a falcon in your backyard, chances are you've seen either a Sharp-shinned Hawk or Cooper's Hawk.  Cornell Lab of Ornithology states, "It is actually quite rare to host a falcon like a Merlin, Peregrine...at your birdfeeders."

Check out the Cornell Lab's website for additional identification tips and photos.

 

Sharp-shinned Hawk - adult

DETERRING HAWKS

• Make sure your feeders and baths are located where there is ample natural protection. Nearby evergreen shrubs, bushes, trees or a brush pile will provide birds with an easy escape when they are threatened by a hawk or other predator.
• When hawks start hunting in your backyard, take your feeders down for a few days. The hawk should go elsewhere for food and will hopefully find a new location for hunting and not return. Your songbirds will leave while the feeders are down, but will return once you replace your feeders.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (adult) "mantling" over prey

 

Adapted from material provided by WBU, Inc., using information from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology PFW 2009-10 Winter Bird Highlights publication.  All images by Nancy Castillo