Can anyone help me identify this Hawk/Falcon?

[cromulo]

It is either a young red tailed hawk or a red shouldered hawk. A red tail will usually have a band of color across a mostly white chest, but one of the defining features is that when he is flying he will have black "shoulders" like in this picture:

A red shouldered hawk does not have those black patches:

There are other differences but that is probably the most straightforward way to tell. Red Tailed hawks -can- take chickens but generally their prey is rabbits and squirrels (think mammals) but red shouldered hawks do eat a lot of birds. Red shouldered hawks only weigh a couple of pounds or less so if you have standard sized chickens and you think this hawk is getting them then I would suspect its a Red Tail. I would suggest bird netting over your guys.

 

[dacjohns]

I don't think it is a kestrel or any other falcon.

How big is it? You can compare it to a robin or a crow.

Colors?

Call?

Are it's legs feathered? Then Rough-legged hawk.

I'm leaning towards Red-shouldered or Rough-legged hawk.

Maybe even Broad-winged hawk. Look at the tail barring. Includes the Red-shouldered.


You are in a hawk migration corridor so it could be just about anything this time of year.

Red-tailed hawks are common and have a lot of variation but the tail still isn't right and the beak looks too small.


More pictures?

 

[asolano76]

That pis didn't do his beak justice....heres one more pic. He looks to be more hawk sized. Defintely three or four times bigger than a crow and maybe not much smaller than one of the vultures that have been flying around lately. The call sounded like a red-tailed hawk, I just wasn't sure because of the tail. I have been looking at more pics and am thinking it def could be a juvenile red-tailed hawk???

 

[dacjohns]

How wide (diameter) is the post it's sitting on?


Crows are pretty big, 17 " long and up to 39" wingspan. The hawks we're talking about are about the same size, some are just slightly larger.

It doesn't look like the legs are feathered.

The Red-tailed hawk call is pretty distinctive. It's the one commonly used in movies when showing hawks or eagles. A Bald Eagle call is pretty wimpy. You wouldn't expect something like it from such a magnificent bird.

 

[asolano76]

Yeah, I just went and listened to some red tailed calls and thats what it sounds like. I'm not sure how big the post is as its in a neighbors yard. The crows around here don't seem to be as big as that?? I haven't seen the hawk near any of the crows so its hard to tell exactly how big he is compared to them.

 

[twentynine]

young redtail hawk

 

[pride&joy]

How are those lg eye balloons at keeping hawks away?

 

[mom'sfolly]

I'm going with young red-tailed hawk as well. It isn't a kestrel, the markings are wrong and a kestrel is about the size of a robin, and very slim-bodied.

 

[Caincando1]

You are all wrong, that's a Bobcat! Sorry.... just trying to be funny.....

 

[rufus]

Looking at that bird perched on that fence post reminded me that we used to put tin cans on the post to keep hawks from perching on them. No sense in making them welcome.

Rufus