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I was sitting in the dEn and this hawk landed on the swing out side my window. Sorry I had to take this picture through the screen.

Nice shot, Ed

This was quite a surprise to me, I didn't know that they had screens in FL.

I really enjoy having wildlife come into my yard, of course that is limited by where I live. Not so sure that some things that live in FL would be welcomed. This bird of course would.

Thanks for sharing,

Ed

We had a lot of birds here in Central Indiana when I was a kid, some like Oriels that I almost never see now. The birds I didn't ever see back in the 1940's and 1950's were the big hunters like hawks and eagles. We also never saw deer here then. I suppose that much of it on the big birds was due to so many people in the country and city both raising chickens. People were very protective of their chicks and I recall hearing stories of how many hawks some folks had killed... Deer were simply hunted to extinction, both in the very early days and again during the great depression when a lot of folks hunted and fished to feed themselves.
Today hawks (mostly red-tails) and eagles (both golden and bald) are getting spotted fairly often here. Deer we have too many of now...
I am frequently amazed at the size of some of these predator birds I see. While there are a lot of smaller hawks some of the biggest ones get quite large. My reference says a maximum wingspan will reach 48" to 52". There is one near here (just one) that I believe is a fair amount bigger than that. Their hunting here is very easy. The rabbit population on this farm has reached remarkable levels. The horse pastures on this farm and neighboring farms are a lot more rabbit friendly than most other uses and it shows. We noticed that same factor back when we used to raise sheep. In spite of the best efforts of our old dog who can no longer out-run them or out-think them it is now rare to walk outside around the farm without seeing more than one. Walking the farm last winter after light snows it looks like the rabbits (generally referred to here as "Wabbits" ) are working 3 shifts and overtime just making tracks in the snow.
Our Coyote population has gone down a bit and the mice, voles, shrews and such food items are also well populated.
There are mallard ducks and geese on the pond and when the ground was covered with snow some of the smaller hawks would swoop in and grab a meal of one of the small birds eating at the feeders right at the back patio door, occasionally crashing into it.
I keep hearing stories of the big hawks grabbing cats but I have never seen any signs of that happening here.
Enough rambling for now.


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Just wait a few years, and I bet the hawks will take care of the rabbit overpopulation. A while back, I almost had to kick rabbits out of my way to take a walk in my neighborhood. They routinely mowed down my wife's annuals. Then a nesting pair of red-shouldered hawks moved in, and raised a new brood of chicks every year. Nowadays, I almost never see a rabbit.

Most predators are nomadic, when the food chain is good plenty of them around, when they clean them out, off to better feeding grounds.
Coyotes and Wolfs I no fore sure, litter sizes adjust to food supply, when low, lower pup count, when a high food supply more pups, maybe do to body fat %, dont know.

reible wrote:This was quite a surprise to me, I didn't know that they had screens in FL.

I really enjoy having wildlife come into my yard, of course that is limited by where I live. Not so sure that some things that live in FL would be welcomed. This bird of course would.

Thanks for sharing,

Ed

They are Florida screens, actual roach bars!