Hawks for the birds at the bird feeder

This hawk suddenly lighted on a tree on the creek yesterday. The hawk in flight was much more dramatic than its brooding roost.


I would guess this is a Broad-Winged hawk and not a Red Tailed hawk, but I couldn't see the tail that well. It is not the first one I have seen in my yard or in the area.


I suspects it was there because of all of the dainty morsels of smaller birds that have been attracted to the bird feeders lately. This little blue bird (a White-Breasted Nuthatch) throws out food onto the ground below the feeder that the dark-eyed juncos go after.


The dark-eyed juncos flit from the brush of the fallen tree in the creek to the ground below the feeder and back. You can see one hiding in the middle of the picture below.

The house sparrows feed at the feeder and off of the ground. I think that the sparrow below is a more drab colored female. I might be incorrect in the identification and would appreciate an experts advice.

Broad Winged hawk comes to work

Today, I had another broad winged hawk encounter but with a better camera than the last time. This hawk was at work roosting in the trees around the parking lot but right in front of the office window. At first it appeared injured as it hobbled around on the ground and flew from branch to ground to branch, but around lunchtime I saw it soaring high above, so I imagine that it is fine.

(click for larger images)

Here it is perched.


Perched with eyes closed


Perched with a good shot of the tail below the branch as well.


On the ground facing toward.


On the ground facing away.

After some further review of hawks on the web, this appears to be an immature broad winged hawk and not a Cooper's hawk (no red eyes) or Red Tailed hawk (no red tail). The broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus) summers in the eastern United States and is very common.

I would still like the expert opinion of a bird watcher, especially if they were familiar with birds of the eastern United States or the Delmarva peninsula.

Calling all bird experts - Was it a broad-winged hawk in my yard?

The area around my house feels like a wildlife refuge, especially due to the creek in the back. This afternoon a very large hawk was eating something in the front yard. I think it is a broad-winged hawk (Buteo platypterus) but I would love it if a bird expert would confirm my suspicion. It looks like a white morph version and is probably immature from the picture matching that I tried to do. Especially the white front.


I took a variety of pictures using my trusty Treo and shooting through the binoculars.


I apologize as always for the crappy Treo pictures. The blue tinge probably comes from the low light shooting through the binoculars. Any fuzziness is from lack of focus and shaky hands. (My telephoto camera is broken.)

At one point when I was finally trying to leave the house the bird lighted in the juniper out front and I was less than ten feet from it. It was certainly different from seeing a little finch on a branch. The thing looked bigger than me!


It appeared to be eating something. The pile of feathers it left behind seems to indicate that it caught a bird or found its carcass. It was the crows fighting over the carrion that made me look out and see the hawk in the first place.






tags: Shellpot Creek, Wilmington, Delaware