LOOK WHO CAME TO DINNER

Difficult shot.....out there 100+ feet, raining, poor light and through glass. This is as close as I have ever been to this critter. We watched it take and fly away with a catbird. No decent shots of the good stuff.

Nice one doc! Looks like maybe a Coopers.

It looks good to me!

Very square-ended tail, I'd say more likely Sharp-shinned Hawk

Resin

Square tail says Sharp-shinned. Not a lot of difference in the two, the Cooper's is larger. Both are adept bird killers.

Yes I answered before thinking, just going by size. I love the Coopers and Sharp-shinned Hawks with their sharp turns and great hunting ability.

I'm patiently listening to you folks. Roger Troy Peterson was of no absolute help. Tricky situation where in one does not often get more than a glimpse of these beautiful birds. This one is acting like I should put up a golden arch. It will not clean out our other bird supply. We have worked thirty five years growing lots of food and cover which brings us all this enjoyment.

Here is a frontal view.........again not the best but even so it is my prize and possible help for positive ID.

Not to worry. If you have a lot of birds in your backyard, you're probably going to see him again-- and again -- ... :)

I'm looking forward to seeing a raptor around my feeders - not that I wish any ill will on my perchers, I'd just like to see one.

Hack

Awwww.....even Hawks gotta eat! We had a hawk of some kind (I never had my camera handy when I saw it) last summer. After a few weeks of hanging around the back yard we never saw it again. So perhaps yours won't hang around too long?

That bird is sitting on a four inch fence rail. Deducting now it is about twenty inches tall. Only the Coopers gets that tall. The Sharp Shinned is large when ten to twelve inches tall. Look at the first pix. In the frontal pix the bird is preening thus looks smaller.

We have several kinds of hawks all year long. This is the first we have seen a Coopers this often and this close. We do not worry about normal food chain events. We do not know if the Canadian Crows eat them or not. They sure do battle with them for territorial rights. I suspect the number one preditor is uninformed man with various rifles. It's illeagle but still a frequent known event.

I have to take exception with your statement that the #1 predator of songbirds is man with rifles. Think about it a bit and maybe things will come into perspective for you. About 75% of songbirds die within their first year. I doubt that 1% could be attributed to people shooting them.

Man contributes to the demise of songbirds mainly through loss of habitat. And don't forget about all those people with bird feeders and house cats they allow to stalk them and their neighbors. I'd guess a lot more songbirds are killed by cats than shooters.

Do you know whether the wings are pointed or rounded? When it flies take a careful look. If the wings are pointed, it's an immature or female Merlin, and a rare signting. The strongly banded tail and the length of the tail suggested falcon to me, but the sharply pointed wing is the answer. Look at the difference in wing shape in sillhouette in Peterson, between the sharp-shinned and the Merlin, and then try to get a look at the wing when the bird flies. Good luck.

Here is a photomanaged pix. Maybe that will help someone. I may never see it fly. We only get to see any preditor species in a glimpse a time or two each summer. It's size of about 20" would eliminate Sharp Shinned and the square tail eliminates the Coopers.
........Maybe we will not get an ID just from this pix??? My eyes likely would not be good enough to see a wing pattern in flight.

.......The gentleman from OK seems to be confused. I don't believe we have talked about any song birds in this thread with the exception of the one our hawk ate. I believe the birds of prey are banded and recorded to have lived, nested and fledged their young for many years at the same and different locations. We have local records that Bald Eagles have covered several hundred miles of movement from year to year because neighboring states have confirmed from leg banded birds as we have recorded eagles...both Bald and Golden from surrounding states in our state. We have others that have moved fifty miles and a year or two later came back into our area exactly where they were adults nesting or grown nestlings banded here that left and returned here over several years. Shooting them is a badge of honor among those that who would defy any authority. We catch and severely punish one on occasion but often that just puts them back in the hunt mader, ready to shoot more and a bit more skilled at avoiding authority. These are not hunters. They are poachers who kill for profit and honor amongst theives.
I know of no situation outside of young kids with BB guns shooting song birds with the exception of Starlings and English Sparrows. A major killer of song birds are the people who feed them to close to windows. Broken wings and necks are common as they fly into the windows. We try and help the feeders get moved and reset when this comes to our attention.

I thought you were referring to hawks being the number one killer of songbirds, but I also disagree with your assertion that shooting raptors is a major cause of mortality. Your state had a reputation decades ago of 'sport shooting' migrating raptors from blinds as they migrated down the Appalachian ridges. I hope that tradition is long gone.

At any rate a lot more raptors are killed from electrocution by power lines and flying into wind turbines and vehicles than are illegally shot. Most are not endangered and are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty rather than endangered species acts.