# Look Who Came For Dinner!



## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

Our visitor by passed the usual Bird Buffet at the feeders the other neighborhood Hawks and Owls seem to like, he has been dining on squirrels and other small mammals. He was not a bit bothered by the Mocking Birds that kept dive bombing him.

This is one of the reasons I have not taught my 6 pd dog to use the dog door!!


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

EEEK!!!! Too close, too close!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

GREAT pix, Robbie! really neat!


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## Cailleach (Jan 30, 2010)

Nice pics!!! I love seeing predatory birds anywhere but in or above my yard.


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## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

OMG!! That is one big bird! Gives me the chills to think that it would swoop down on one of our babies! Great pictures tho!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Remember yhough, a squirrel, which is what I think it has in this picture, weighs less than even the smallest Havanese puppywhen it goes to. Its final home. I'm not saying I wouldn't worry about having it around 3 lb. puppy, but it's a rare hwk that will even attempt something as large as a full grown Hav. Not to say it has NEVER happened, bu it's rare.

I wrry MUCH more about coyotes an fishers, both of which REGULARLY take cats and small dogs in our area.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

That looks like a big squirrel to me.


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## Carefulove (Mar 20, 2009)

What a beauty!


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

Yes that is a squirrel, this bird has been menancing the neighbor's Australian Terrier, when she walks her dog--- who has a very short hair cut and is low to the ground---she walks him way out in front this bird would try to snach him. I thought she was exaggerating the size, this guy was big, I am waiting for an ID, he does not look like our usual Red Tail, Red Shoulder, Cooper. He is gray and white with a bit of pink wash, he could be a juvenile. Usually a big Hawk will not take a dog (it can happen if the dog is really small) it depends on how big they look from the air if bird will even try.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

Immature female (25% bigger then the males) Red Tail still has its downy under coat.


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## The Fussy Puppy Gang (May 21, 2007)

She is stunning. How wonderful that you got to see her up close and personal. Our area hawks are beautiful but I've never had the pleasure of seeing one so close. 

I don't worry about the hawks around here. They wouldn't bother with Pepper.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

I get a good bit of wildlife and I live in the city limits, I have kept just over a acre natural (I did replanted the natives and took out invasives) the upkeep is easier, as time goes on and all the woodedspaces are being developed, I am going to have to build a fence and post....really don't want to.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

I think, without looking it up, that it's a Sharp Shinned hawk. Color also looks like it could be a Coopers hawk. Sharp Shinned do their hunting in the woods, and are a bit smaller than a Red Tail. It's called aerial flea control. I think squirrels are the biggest spreader of fleas.
I think a squirrel would be max size prey for a Sharp Shinned. We were sitting on our porch one day, and a Sharp Shinned hit a Blue Jay nest, stealing a baby, but knocking another one out. Our children ended up raising the Blue Jay to an adult, and it came back up close to us for several years.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

I did a Google search for the two hawks.

http://static.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/accipiterIDtable.htm


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

The Laughing Magpie said:


> Immature female (25% bigger then the males) Red Tail still has its downy under coat.


Robbie, is this what your guest was identified as? What terrific photos you got! They are quite beautiful when you can see them up close.

A couple of weeks ago, I was out in an open area behind our yard, talking with a lady from a nearby neighborhood. I had Augie out on leash going potty. She had her Shih Tzu (sp) out to potty - he was not on leash. A HUGE bird kept flying over us - several times. We both got nervous and picked up our dogs, and he stopped the fly overs. She said it was an Eagle. The next day, I had Augie out to potty in the same area, and the same thing happened. I haven't seen him since, but I sure keep a very close eye on my guys when they are out in their play yard and I am doing yard work.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

The Laughing Magpie said:


> Immature female (25% bigger then the males) Red Tail still has its downy under coat.


Ah, that explains it. I wasn't quite sure what it as either. It's funny seeing the Mocking birds mobbing it. Even if it's a juvenile, it has learned to ignore THEM!!!:biggrin1:


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

I had to ask an expert (one of the associates in my Husbands practice is a Birder and writes a column for a couple of newpapers, he travels all over the world for rare birds) it's the downy under feathers that make it look broader it's banding identify if as a Red Tail. Sharp shins are a lot smaller but can be the size of male Cooper hawks. This girl is as big as she will get but is still learning that is why she was bothering the neighbors dog.:biggrin1:

I am generally good with local snakes, lizards, butterflys, owls, and hawks.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

She let me get real close as I only had a small lense so I had to get real close, she was not scared of me. I did not want to run in to the house and lose my change, she pinned the squirrel to a tree to kill it. Red Tails will not generally go in to the woods they hunt in the open, a red shoulder will thrash around in the woods.


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

I love Mockingbirds. That bird was making sure that the hawk didn't get her babies.


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## queryne (Apr 9, 2012)

Wow that's incredible.. Birds a second love of mine.. after Havs!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Here's a picture of a Red Tailed that looks just like your pictures. I didn't think it looked as big as a Red Tailed next to the squirrel, but it sure looks like that's what it is.

http://www.raptorcenter.org/programs/redtail/pic12.htm


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Luciledodd said:


> I love Mockingbirds. That bird was making sure that the hawk didn't get her babies.


I know... They are doing their job. It still is a fun part of the picture. (and I like them (a lot!) too)


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