Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[bgmathteach]

BLANCHE IS GONE
My best girl Blanche didn’t return from foraging on Saturday evening.
I knew right away it was bad news as she never does that. I took the dogs and searched our whole property but not a sign.
There were no particular tell-tale feathers I could discern, either, especially since all three white birds have been molting and the coop, run, and backyard area are littered with white feathers.
I can’t even describe my emotional state of mind.View attachment 2921002View attachment 2921003View attachment 2921012View attachment 2921013

I'm so sorry to hear this, @LaFemmeKatia.

Seems there is an overabundance of predators this fall.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Ok my Hawk Expert Friend (@ChicoryBlue). Are you trying to re-identify the hawk in question?

'm definitely not good at telling the difference, but now I think this is a Sharp-Shinned Hawk, the thick dark streaking goes into the belly, and the sound of the call when it was in the vines seemed closer to that than a Cooper's. It's not that much bigger than a Blue Jay, between a Jay and a Crow?

This got me re-checking measurements. I have excellent reference points with each photo to be able to measure them and I'm super confident in the sizes I am reporting below.

This hawk was 10.25 inches from head to foot.
View attachment 2921116

This hawk measures 11.25 inches head to foot.
View attachment 2921117

Could I Have 2 different hawks stalking my yard?

As for what kind of hawk, based upon the following differentiations, I think it is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk. Here is what I have found as a guide to differentiate them.

Field Mark​	Sharp-shinned Hawk​	Cooper’s Hawk​
SIZE	Similar in size to a jay or dove (avg. 10-14″ long). Female is larger and can be as large as a male Cooper’s Hawk.	Similar in size to a crow (avg.14-20″ long). Male is smaller and can be as small as a female Sharp-shinned Hawk.
HEAD SIZE	Head appears small compared to body.	Head appears large compared to body. The feathers on the back of the head are often raised, giving the bird a crested look.
EYES	Eyes appear to be close to half way between front and back of head.	Eyes appear to be close to the front of the head.
JUVENILE STREAK PATTERN	Heavy, bold, reddish streaks on chest and belly. Note: This field mark applies to juvenile-plumaged birds only.	Thin, dark streaks mostly on upper breast; lower belly mostly white. Note: This field mark applies to juvenile-plumaged birds only

Overall Size
Let's start with size. This is a little subjective. If we accept that this is a juvenile and not yet full grown, this hawk is already in the range of the Sharp-shinned. Assuming that it still has some growing to do I suspect it will wind up in the Cooper's Hawk range. If I judge using my personal eye, it sure seems larger than a Blue Jay or Dove. It is closer to crow sized to me.

Head Size
Again a somewhat subjective method for identification. For me the head seems plenty big enough in relation to the body.

Eyes
To me this is objective and cannot be argued with. The eyes are definitively very close to the front of the head.

Juvenile Streak Pattern
I do not see any reddish streaks. What I see are brown streaks. Now what gives me pause is that the belly does not end in white. However I have see a lot of photos online and it seems in those most juveniles have the stripes all the way down.

Everything I read says that these are very hard birds to differentiate in their youth. Hopefully I do not get to see it full grown.

Agree, tough to distinguish. I doubt it's two birds, could be stance differences? But maybe two nestmates have arrived hunting together. Studying it more, I am now inclined back to Cooper's, due to the head shape in relation to the body, body shape, and the inconsistent streaking pattern. However I don't see this guy growing 3-4 inches in length to be a Cooper's male. But if it is really more Crow-sized, then that's another thing.

I agree with what you see in the eye placement. The body shape also fits Cooper's, like a barrel. Now the streaking is not always reddish, I see in some descriptions and photos it's brown, and the lighting makes a difference. But the main thing is broad kind of smeary streaks all the way down versus very skinny, very well differentiated ones for Coopers. Here, they look pretty broad like Sharp-Shinned, but - they get skinny towards the belly, like Cooper's, the streaks are fading out.

Another comparison chart from Cornell:
https://feederwatch.org/learn/tricky-bird-ids/coopers-hawk-and-sharp-shinned-hawk/

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Everything is locked and no one is getting out until I do something about that hawk. I have no Jabberwocky or even Patsy here to deal with it. Until I can remove it or get it to move on, no one is getting out of the complex. Ever.

I meant the hawk will go in an open door, not that the chickens will go out. This one will go in a small opening, into a dimly-lit area even, I'm thinking, if it knows chickens are in there. I'm mindful of this when I momentarily leave the Buckeyes in their run to get something - to close both the top and bottom doors of the dutch-style doors, in case a hawk wants to fly in.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

What an outstanding guardian

Yes! The gander watches out for everyone, the driver says he's way better than her guardian dogs for aerial predators, he actually alerts them.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Really?? I think that needs investigating.

He did! I found one!!

However, I do believe "Scotty, beam me up" was never uttered in Star Trek TOS.

Tax:

View attachment 2920903

Well done Lozzy! The closest I could find was "Good work 99"

Never said "Scotty, beam me up" ? Sounds like a challenge!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I’m gonna be a duck owner soon still I think I might hang around a bit it was nice to say a ‘hi’ after a long time.Anyone willing to see my ducklings soon is honoured to see my thread here are the View attachment 2920905View attachment 2920906candling pics.View attachment 2920904

Sorry to hear about the Chickens Afi.
Exciting news about the soon to be ducklings though!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Tough when it's below 32°F though.

Ice cubes then?

 

[LozzyR]

In the pics she sent me, not only are there silkies, she has 8 other big girls, they look like Isa Browns and he will be the only rooster.

What happens if an ISA Brown hen lays fertilised eggs? I know ISAs aren’t a breed so what would happen? Or are they the mules of the chicken world?

 

[LozzyR]

He's going to be in rooster heaven!

Not literally I hope!

 

[RoyalChick]

What happens if an ISA Brown hen lays fertilised eggs? I know ISAs aren’t a breed so what would happen? Or are they the mules of the chicken world?

They are crosses so their offspring would be a bunch of Bitsas.