Thanks Vic, for that affirmation, but I have to say, I am not an expert ant hawk i.d. I think there is some chance this bird might be a Sharp-shinned Hawk. I based my decision on what looks like a larger head, and perhaps a larger bird, a longish rounded tail, and, probably a young bird as the eye is still yellow and the coloring is brownish. The angle of view in my pictures could be deceptive. I would expect an expert might even have more to say. I also hear some "kik" calls -I interrupted this birds meal and got scolded!Interesting that Blue Jays are getting hit-we have many of them this year-sometimes 17+ at a time. That is unusual where I live.
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Cynthia Crawford
Creature Kinships and Natural Affinities
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On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 7:32 AM, Victor Henningsen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
**************************************************************** To post messages, send e-mail to: [log in to unmask] Set your e-mail application to PLAIN TEXT ONLY to post messages. To contact the list owner: [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Web based archives and subscription management are available at: http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/Archives/uv-birders.html ****************************************************************Meant to post this earlier. Last Friday morning, the 9th, we watched for almost two hours as a hawk calmly devoured a hapless blue jay underneath a feeder we hang from an apple tree. We don't have a decent camera but were able to spend a good bit of time with binoculars and scope watching the event. Based on white speckles on the scapulars, we tentatively identified the culprit as a juvenile red tail. But Cynthia Crawford's post and pictures this morning sent us back to our guides and field notes. Based on a closer reading of bird behavior and feeding habits and a review of our field notes, we now believe what we saw was a juvenile Cooper's Hawk, particularly given that one mark we noted clearly was that the tip of its bill was dark, almost black. The only remaining doubt is that the tail of the bird we saw didn't look as long as the guides indicate for the Cooper's. But Cynthia's pictures resemble the bird we saw and, bowing to her superior expertise, we'll revise our log. We need to get a decent camera!
Either way it was a dramatic event. Nothing left at the end of the meal but a few feathers — not even a stray bone. Felt bad eating breakfast while this was going on outside the window, but the chickadees continued to frequent the feeder during the latter part of the feast, so we weren't alone.
This listserv is enormously useful for those of us who are what might charitably be called "emerging birders." Thanks to those who post to it and maintain it.