This guy has been hanging around our back feeders that are mainly frequented by the small birds, fiches, juncos etc. They go on feeding while the hawk is there so he is probably hunting voles and mice that come for the spilled feed. I think it is a young Red-Tailed Hawk but I am not good on hawk ID.
brave birds
I wonder if it might be a Red-shouldered Hawk. I could be off though.
We have an American Kestrel hang out hereand the birds are not bothered by it. What was a little concerning were the birds just went about their business when a Merlin came by. Now, that falcon does eat small birds, but I wonder if they were so accustomed to the Kestrel that they did not view the Merlin as a threat. I am glad the bird continued south. :)
Yep, first-winter Red-shouldered Hawk
Resin
I thought his beak looked smaller than a RTH. The kestrels or sparrow hawks do feed on our little birds. One smashed into our living room windows and did himself in chasing one of the little birds. The worst predator at our feeders is the Cooper's Hawk. He creates bedlam and causes many window strikes.
I saw this same guy or gal Jan. 31--couldn't figure out how to post a photo but it's exactly like yours. Looked it up in the birdbook and concluded it was a juvenile. It sat on the tray of the pole-mounted feeder for about an hour while all the same birds you mentioned above--finches, juncos, sparrows, cardinals--flew about feeding at the other feeders--not worried at all. It seemed clear he was observing, as was I.
Those are great photos, Ottahand!
I went outside recently and saw a large bird of prey sitting on my fence, just a few yards away from small birds. I wondered why they weren't bothered by it; maybe it was a Red-shouldered Hawk. It flew away when it saw me, so I didn't get a good look at it.
How would birds know that this particular hawk, which apparently sometimes eat birds, probably wouldn't eat them?
In my experience, the genus of Buteo hawks (red-tails, red-shouldered, etc) are no threat to healthy live birds, with one exception. They are big, strong and less agile, and primarily eat rodents. In nature, they probably only eat birds by nest robbing or getting injured or sick birds. The one exception is urban birds learning to hunt pigeons and other "distracted" urban birds. We have a local Red tail hawk that can get the occasional pigeon and even then I didn't believe it till I saw it. I assumed he may have stole it from a Coopers Hawk, but there are many reports of Red tails hunting urban Pigeons. I've also seen falconers catch red tails using a Pigeon tethered to the ground as bait, since it can be seen flopping around from a long distance.
My feeder birds don't worry about Buteos in the least, but can spot an Accipiter 500 yds away and get nervous. I've never seen any hawk get the voles feeding on the spilled seed, but possums are very good at catching the voles.
Thanks, Chris, that's very interesting. All of the birds in my yard take their cues from the blue jays; they have learned the difference between the sound a blue jay makes when it's pretending to be a hawk and when there's really a hawk around. I can't remember whether the jays were around when the hawk was perched on the fence. I was so shocked to see it with seemingly oblivious birds near it that I didn't focus on much else.
I don't have pigeons in my yard, but there are a lot of slow-moving doves which probably would be easy for a Buteo hawk to catch.
Chris, thank you for sharing the info and your experiences. Our Kestrel has still left the birds alone, they have no concern of her whatsoever. But yep, those Cooper's make the birds disappear.
I've noticed that, too, Muddy1, the Jays have a different call that will send everything fleeing, except woodpeckers, they tend to freeze since they are not fast fliers. I've never seen one of them taken. I've also seen the Meadowlarks freeze and in the dead grasses, they blend right in. It's only because I saw them feeding earlier that I was able to spot them.
The doves freeze if they're perched in the trees because they're also slow fliers. It strikes me as odd that hawks don't see them and go after them. Maybe they're too big for the Cooper's Hawks, which is what I normally see in my backyard. Or do hawks just not go after stationary birds?
I disagree that mourning Doves are slow. They may appear big and dumb, but definitely one of the fastest and most agile flyers found in the backyard. I would say they are the preferred prey of Coopers Hawks. They provide a big meal for a predator and seem to fill the large herbivore role in bird ecology. They are the white tail deer and wildebeests of the bird world, hence they have evolved to escape their large predators. I would say that doves are one of the few prey birds that fly faster than Coopers hawks. If the hawk can't reach them in the first 2-3 seconds of the attack they are safe. While I've seen Coopers close the gap and catch sparrows and finches after a few figure 8s through the trees. The little song birds primarily rely on dense plants for protection and go places a Cooper cant fly into.
In my backyard, Coopers Hawk are below-the-horizon hunters of stationary targets (primarily Doves). They fly low and build up speed, then surprise an area they anticipate the birds to be. I've seen Coopers make an attack on my feeder without any prey being present. They fly around the corner of the house full speed and try surprise the doves on the ground. These are usually smart mature birds in the lean winter months. In the spring and summer, there are too many nests and fledglings that they don't need resort to trying to catch smart adult prey. I would say 80% of the attacks on my feeder occur in Oct during the hawk migration and it is mostly first year Coopers attacking. They seem to be drawn to all the activity, but with limited success (except juvenile prey). Another 15% are in the winter and are sophisticated attacks. The last 5% is just the random attack in the spring/summer.
One of the things I like about watching Coopers is in the early summer every song bird will mob a Coopers. You'll see a Cooper carry a fledgling off and 20 birds harassing it. Come fall and winter, its every bird for themselves.
I've never seen kestrels try to catch a bird. They are always sitting out in the open hunting like red tails or hovering over a corn/bean field in the winter.
Doves remain stationary in trees when Coopers are in the area, one of the reasons why I'm surprised they don't get caught. I've never seen a hawk catch a bird in my yard, probably because the Blue Jays, which hang around all day long because I feed them peanuts, always spot them in time to sound a warning.
I have noticed the past few weeks that my feeders are empty. Even the squirrels. I have separate feeders for birds and squirrels. Usually I see cardinals, blue jays, doves.... I have seen a hawk and an owl flying around. Is this my problem?? I really miss the little fellas....how can I get them back??
We have a red til hawk in our area, but after rodents. No Coopers that we know about.
Laurenafuller,
The occasional visit of a raptor or owl will not usually keep birds away from the feeders. Sometimes if the threat is daily that could cause the birds to find a safer spot. Do you or a neighbor have outdoor cats? That is another threat to the birds.
Another possibility, either migration has pushed some of your birds north and/or they are finding natural food sources. There are times of the year when I have very few birds at the feeders. We have a couple of native patches that I can find birds in when they aren't at the feeders. If your birds are nesting, they might be focusing on finding insects for their young.
Have you tried a bird bath? This can bring birds to an area when they are not necessarily attracted to feeders. Are Orioles in your area now? Maybe set out orange halves. The Orioles, Woodpeckers and finches like those. I tend to change foods with the seasons to attract different birds.
I hope you start seeing activity at your feeders again. I cannot help with the squirrels, we do not see them regularly here.
