What type of hawk is this?

[Sfraker]

The pictures were taken from my car window on my phone so they are not the best. I see this hawk all the time swooping across my driveway or circling high above my yard and woods.
I have ducks and guineas. The ducks are in a large pen with aviary mesh over the top so I think they are safe. But of course I still worry.

The hawk is in the middle of the pictures. Sorry they are sideways. They are not sideways on my phone or computer. Not sure what happened when I posted them.








Thanks!

 

[centrarchid]

Red-shouldered Hawk. Not a species I consider to be a threat to chickens more than half grown. My birds do not even get riled with these guys about because always around and do not cause trouble.

 

[Honey B]

The russet chest makes me think it might be a red shoulder hawk. Do you have water nearby? Have you heard the hawk "talk" often? If it is a red shoulder you don't have much to worry about, they eat frogs and mice size creatures typically. If you could get a picture of his back it would help with id.

 

[attimus]

The stripe tail and chest combo make it look like a juvenile red tail. What type of hawks are in your area.Might help to narrow it down

 

[Sfraker]

I am just south west of Charlotte NC near the SC border. When I first saw it I spoke with the local raptor rescue and they said we have the occasional red tail hawk, commonly seen are red shouldered hawks and coopers hawks. They felt it was most likely one of those. Other than that we have a couple bald eagles that were released a few years ago at a local lake, many types of owls and other smaller birds of prey.

I am pretty familiar with adult red tail hawks. I don't know what the young ones look like, but I don't think this is an adult one.

It calls almost non-stop when it is flying, many times I'll hear and see two of them circling way up high.

I am three miles from a large lake.

His wings look to have white or lighter colored stripes and so does the tail. The whole stomach and chest are rusty orange.

 

[centrarchid]

They are setting up territories.

 

[Honey B]

The vocalizations confirm red shoulder. They are noisy things! A mated pair attacked my juvie redtail when we were hunting squirrels a few years ago. Took a nip out of her wing but I think we were near their nest. Red shoulders are good hawks for chicken keepers to have around. They encourage the more dangerous red tails to move on.

 

[Sfraker]

@Honey B So I should stop trying to lure in crows to help chase the hawks away then? LOL! I have been putting corn out on the far side of my property to try to lure in some crows to help chase away the hawks. That was suggested to me by the raptor center. FYI I have ten acres of woods so the corn was plenty far away from the ducks so as not to bring in other unwanted animals.

I love the hawks they are gorgeous and I enjoy hearing their cry. I will happily sit back and enjoy them without worry for my birds. I'll drag my camera out and see if I can get a few nice shots of them.

 

[centrarchid]

The vocalizations confirm red shoulder. They are noisy things! A mated pair attacked my juvie redtail when we were hunting squirrels a few years ago. Took a nip out of her wing but I think we were near their nest. Red shoulders are good hawks for chicken keepers to have around. They encourage the more dangerous red tails to move on.

I agree on all accounts. The adults are also quite striking when flying about in full sun as wings will appear blueish-gray. They sometimes also team up with crows to mutually defend their nesting areas against nest robbers. I have a pair working pasture out side my office. A Red-tailed Hawk pair have a nest roughly 1/3 mile to east in a large Sycamore Tree but they are less evident than the Red-shouldered Hawks. We also have a Bald Eagle nest within a mile or so of us so we get busy on the raptor counts around here.

 

[Honey B]

@Honey B
 So I should stop trying to lure in crows to help chase the hawks away then? LOL!  I have been putting corn out on the far side of my property to try to lure in some crows to help chase away the hawks.  That was suggested to me by the raptor center.   FYI  I have ten acres of woods so the corn was plenty far away from the ducks so as not to bring in other unwanted animals.

I love the hawks they are gorgeous and I enjoy hearing their cry.  I will happily sit back and enjoy them without worry for my birds.  I'll drag my camera out and see if I can get a few nice shots of them.

Enjoy your red shoulders! If they are setting up a nest the crows will not be able to chase them away. Crows harass hawks but if the hawk is determined they will not bump. I enjoy both species. Both the red shoulders and crows will alert you to the presence of other raptors, you have a perfect natural alarm system! If you get some nice pictures make sure to post them.