Anyone know what kind of bird this is?

[Onlooker]

It's about 12 inches tall and other birds were swooping at it. I saw one once before eating a pigeon.

[idgiehkt]

1. kind of looks like this hawk

http://homepage.mac.com/wildlifeweb/bird/ferruginous_hawk/ferruginous_hawk.html

we have hawks that the mockingbirds around here chase all the time, they are not scared of them

here is another link about ferruginous hawks, if this is the right one, they sure look similar

http://www.ferruginoushawk.org/

[Onlooker]

3. Thanks

That's it. Up close it's intimidating. When it saw me, I had this momentary worry that it would crashing through the window.

[Inchworm]

That hawk may not be where he/she is in east

:shrug:

[idgiehkt]

11. it does seem to be a western species

but all the pictures of red tails look much darker and have the belly band. The eyes on the one in the pic are light colored and the ferruginous has dark eyes, other than that I don't see much difference, but the species apparently are very similar. I think red tails are alot more common. Apparently they are being bred together, here is a link showing both species
http://www.shortwingfalconry.co.uk/hawks/ferrutail.asp

[Inchworm]

2. it could be a baby red-tailed hawk?

you are in MA?

I like looking up this stuff :)

:hi:

[Onlooker]

5. Yeah

Ah, so you've seen them. What's it doing in Harvard Square?

[Inchworm]

12. Not seen them

I'm looking in my bird book. I saw that the Ferruginous Hawk was not found in east and its uncommon in the west.

:)

[Kat45]

42. He probably flew down to the Square from Mt. Auburn Cemetery

It's not too far away. Lots of birds, migratory and not, hang out at Mt. Auburn, and I've seen a red-tailed hawk circling overhead more than once when I've been there.

[Xipe Totec]

4. Red tailed Hawk nt

[Inchworm]

8. is it a baby? (immature)

just curious

:shrug:

[Xipe Totec]

14. Dunno,

This is the closest I've seen one!

Most of the time, I see them in flight.

But here's a pic of a mature one:

[hatredisnotavalue]

6. I'm guessing a northern harrier

Funny I saw one last week on our road in central maine.

[matcom]

7. why were you eating a pigeon?

was it 'gamey'?

[Lex]

10. this was

my question too

[Onlooker]

13. LOL

Because the hawk made it look so appetizing!

[Gormy Cuss]

9. Maybe a northern harrier, but they're a bit bigger than that (16-18")

The coloring also suggests an immature Red tail hawk (but again, they're even bigger than harriers. Both types live in your area, whereas I don't recall seeing ferruginous in Mass.) Sizewise it's closer to a sharp shinned or Cooper's hawk but I don't think either have solid white breasts.These two smaller hawks have rectangular tails in flight, unlike the more common fantails.

[idgiehkt]

22. I don't know how people identify birds in flight

the pics I looked at they all just look light brown birds. My hat is off to birders.

[Lex]

15. Link---it's a redtail hawk

http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2007/01/08/red-tailed-hawk-immature/

[TZ]

16. Thats a GREAT picture...

My inclination was red-tailed hawk as well- juvenile hawks are a little different looking. Oh I envy you. Of course that kind of thing would drive my cats mad....:)

[idgiehkt]

17. Isn't it?

I'd love to have something like that looking in my window...but this yard is the 24 hour mockingbird broadcasting station and it would get it's butt whooped if it came anywhere near here.

[TZ]

20. I live almost next door to a state park so I see red-tailed hawks

flying by all the time, and I HEAR them too..but I have never gotten that close to one, although I see them sitting in trees...that picture is my new wallpaper!

[Inchworm]

18. Do I get to put it on my life-list?

Looks like the consensus is Red-Tailed Hawk.

Woohoo! I want one to come to my window.

Excellent pic!

:yourock:

[idgiehkt]

19. It also looks close to a northern harrier though

from the pics I looked at...if it is a baby. Well, I learned some new things today...I had no idea there were so many hawk species.

[TZ]

23. I've seen harriers too....and its not quite right

Plus harriers are kind of shy and not that common. Red tailed hawks are pretty common in suburban/lightly wooded areas. You are much more likely to see harriers in isolated wetland/swampy areas.:)

[idgiehkt]

25. That bird in the picture is definitely not shy

Lol. :)

[Inchworm]

24. same here- was interesting

That whole cross-breeding annoys me.

As for the harrier, I imagined them skinnier :D

:shrug:

[idgiehkt]

26. I looked up the cooper's too

My favorite picture of all the ones I've seen is the one in the OP, lol. That is one beautiful bird, although I'm sure the prey wouldn't agree. I don't know why they would be cross-breeding them...

[TZ]

28. a friend who lives near me has a bird feeder that attracts a Cooper's Hawk

One day she looked outside and saw this huge POOF of feathers as the hawk dined on one of her resident sparrows...that was interesting....

[Gormy Cuss]

29. It could be either harrier or red tail, but the OP's size estimate is too small

for either one even as immature birds unless it's very young. The OP is in Harvard Square which is close to a river and public open space so all manner of birds are around that area. Red tails are the most common hawks in that part of the state and for that reason I'd lean more towards that ID. Seeing the tail would help.

One cool bird picture, regardless.

[Inchworm]

31. I agree- excellent picture!

That whole immature thing is what threw me. I guess you have to consider that when IDing.

I learned alot in this thread.

:hi:

[Tyler Durden]

58. Unless it's a female.

We had one about that size, used to sit and groom on our mailbox. Small Female Red Tail.

[Gormy Cuss]

60. I'll admit that I've never had time to observe one live at ground level.

I also know that I'm pretty bad at estimating the size of birds without a benchmark. That's why I hauled out my reference books. Only a young one should be that small because mature size is a foot and a half or more (R.T.Peterson, Stokes, and Sibley are my references.)

Must have been fun watching her. We had a sharp shinned family breeding in the neighbors tree two years ago and I watched the youngster grow up. Fascinating to watch the parent teach skills like "when a human is ten feet below you, drop your lunch and fly away."

[BarenakedLady]

21. No

Ya freakin' bird nerd.

You have to see it in front of you, or else I'd sit and watch the National Geographic Channel or The Discovery Channel and fill up my life list.

[Inchworm]

27. muahahaha!

You need to see my hat! :D

It's a bullseye graphic with droppings on it!

:rofl:

[BarenakedLady]

30. I think I've seen that hat somewhere

on-line

Where did you get it?

[Inchworm]

32. Nephew got it for me

cause he probably thinks I'm a "bird nerd" too. :D

Speaking of hats.. what are you wearing?

:rofl:

[BarenakedLady]

33. Uhmmmm

Not a hat. ;)

[Inchworm]

36. well, thats a coincidence

My hat is off as well.

:blush:

[BarenakedLady]

38. I'm thinkin

We have lots in common. Bwahahaha

[Inchworm]

40. so it seems...

Whats for supper? How about some skettis?

[Onlooker]

34. Thanks for the compliments

I live in a fourth floor apartmentin Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA). It was sitting on my air conditioner (just a few minutes before I posted it). The moment I saw it, I rushed in and got my digital camera (a good one) and took about 10 photos as I approached. When I got too close it flew away in a startling flurry.

[idgiehkt]

35. did you get any of the tail

so we can settle this thing? :rofl:

Great photos, worthy of publishing

edit: come to think of it you could easily get a better estimate of the size from measuring your window sill and comparing it to the photo and accounting for the bird's feet. I'm all into this, now, lol.

[Onlooker]

37. No, this is the only other real angle I have:

I just measured my window, and it could have been almost 14" tall, not 12".

[BarenakedLady]

39. He's beautiful!

I was once lucky enough to see a wild redtailed hawk being released by a wildlife rehabilitator. I'd never seen one up close before.

:thumbsup:

[idgiehkt]

47. he looks a lot darker in that one, around his head

more like a red-tailed hawk like people are saying...you know, I have been hearing that all my life, 'red-tailed hawk', and since I've only seen them in flight I had no idea how beautiful they are. Wow.

[pitohui]

48. onlooker, could be a male, sometimes the males are substantially smaller than the females

it is a red-tailed hawk, because you have a good way to measure size and it is small for the species, my feeling is that we have a male here, they can run much smaller than the females

[Onlooker]

41. Here ya' go

A windowpane is 8.5" x 14.5". From the top of the air conditioner to the bottom of the windowpane is 3.5".

[warrior1]

43. Peregrine Falcon

Apparently, they are peeping toms.

[idgiehkt]

45. lol

that is exactly what popped into my head too, about the 'peeping toms'.

:rofl:

[pitohui]

44. this photo is of a red-tailed hawk

there is no debate to be had on the topic

[legally blonde]

46. Looks like a red-tailed hawk to me, too

Although it's been a while since I took ornithology. Bird identification is really hard--coloring changes drastically from hatchling to adult.

Awesome picture, though! My cats would go nuts if I ever got a bird that big at my window!

[leftofthedial]

49. why did you eat a pigeon?

are you . . . French?

[ironflange]

50. It's a Henery Hawk

See the resemblance?

[kestrel91316]

51. Looks like a young Cooper's hawk to me. They come and eat

the doves in my yard. They are well-suited to maneuvering in tight quarters as found in suburban yards with big trees, as opposed to the Red-tail, which tends to soar and dive over fields. The Cooper's hawk is a forest hawk.

[jobycom]

52. Duck.

It's not, but I'd get no attention by saying it was a hawk, now would I?

Beautiful bird. Nice picture. He or she seems to think you might be edible!

[flvegan]

53. I was going to say titmouse

for the same reason. And, well, just typing titmouse is fun. Titmouse. Two syllables: tit-mouse.

[jobycom]

55. You are right, that would have been better!

:rofl:

[bikebloke]

54. Kin?

It looks sort of like this one.

[Tyler Durden]

56. RED TAILED HAWK; ID websight.

http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/raptors/Hawks/redtailedDecember28th2005b.html

Northern varieties have more white on the breast like yours. New England, right?

[Tyler Durden]

57. Have seen two of them up close and personal.

Red Tails are very brave, and have no problem sitting on the window sill and staring you down. We had a female in St. Clair Michigan sit on our mailbox on the front porch about 5 feet from our front picture window. She would sit there and groom as if to say "TRY and get the mail. I DARE you."

A Red Tail took out a sparrow in our back yard about 4 weeks back. BIG one. He just sat there and had his lunch for about 10 minutes.

[Sequoia]

59. Beautiful.

Is he looking at you taking his photo? Looks like a hawk to me.

[begin_within]

61. Post your picture and question at this web site:

http://www.birdforum.net/

and you'll have a definitive answer in minutes.

[Jamastiene]

62. That is a red-tailed hawk and most likely the other birds

we either jays or crows. Jays and crows routinely chase hawks. Usually it's a defensive measure to protect either food source or a nest somewhere.

[stuntcat]

63. AMAZING photo

wow, he looks like he's hungry fr whatever's inside!

[Hotler]

64. Female Merlin a.k.a pigon hawk

I'm looking at Western Birds by Roger Troy peterson I have one that been hanging around here near Denver, Co in my back yard by the feeders.

[TreasonousBastard]

65. Looks like a red-tail to me, although...

I'm no expert. I have seen plenty of them in New Jersey, though, where they were as common as pigeons in New York. Without seeing the tail, which is the absolute identifier, the grayish brown head and belted white belly sure look like a red-tail.

Here's "Thorny," a red-tail I met while hanging out at the Raptor Trust. Yes, she looks a bit different from the one in the window, but they do vary a lot and have seasonal coloring changes, too.

http://www.theraptortrust.org/the-birds/family/thorny