Shopsmith Forums

I have a small bird feeder in the front yard and the birds enjoy the smaller seeds I stock it with. So much so that they empty it in a day. I fill it in the evening and by the next evening it is all gone. So today when I was heading out for an afternoon walk I noticed that perhaps only 1/3 of the seed was gone. That was less then I expected and no signs of birds in the adjacent branches, unusual and certainly interesting to note.

When I returned from the walk I spotted this hawk in a tree near by. No doubt it has been around the neighborhood for the last while and more then likely the one I have seen flying about. It is smaller hawk, maybe from this year? Anyway I have a hunch that the smaller birds did not want to be feed for this hawk and that is why they were staying away.

I was able to go in and get my camera and take a lot of pictures and this video. It was pretty tolerate of having me walking around be kept an eye on me at least part of the time. In fact when I finished it was still setting there. Later when I went out it had left, so perhaps the little birds will return and get a nice snack before bed time.

https://youtu.be/0NF0nfuFFfA

And a picture:
Ed

Yes, we have that here pretty often. We had one sitting on the railing of the back deck just under the bird feeder. No birds around then. Today in the middle of the snow storm (about 6" so far) one flew by between the shop and the house about 20' above the ground. The birds at the feeder didn't notice and he didn't notice them either. He just kept going south west.

That’s a very pretty hawk, Ed. Do you know what type? We tend to have red-shouldered hawks hanging out, and sometimes nesting, in our wooded neighborhood.

Cooper's Hawk I think, not an expert on birds. We normally see a lot of red tail hawks in the summer but it was a different summer with much less hawks near us in the neighborhood. Keep in mind I live in a subdivision packed with houses so the fact I see as much wildlife as I do is pretty neat. The last couple of weeks I have not been out to the forest preserves were I really enjoy walking and expect to see more interesting wildlife so this fox and hawk have been a real treat right here at home.

Ed

I agree it is probably a Cooper's Hawk. About the size of a crow. If it were much smaller, say blue jay sized, then a sharp-shinned hawk.