Hawk

[real_redhead]

This morning was leaving for work, standing in the back yard talking to the contractor working on my house when 2 crows were making a racket, squawking like no bodies business. Looked up into the walnut tree and there was the largest hawk I had ever seen. Question, this didn't look like a red tailed hawk it was huge, and was mostly light in color. Anyone have any ideas what kind of hawk? Or do they change colors for the winter? Chickens ran under coop and hide. I doubled checked everything to make sure the hawk couldn't get my girls.

 

[flowergirl60]

I am having the same situation. Yesterday the birds in the neighbors trees started acting crazy and flew out of the trees and there it was......this big light in color bird came flying right over my deck with me and my hens sitting there. All I could do is look up when I saw the wing span and said to myself, "What in the H@#L was that. Hawks are migrating right now and I hate that when I leave I have to put my girls in their run. I didn't get pics b/c I didn't have my camera with me. Besides it just happened too fast. I'm not sure if they change colors or not. Since then I have googled info on hawks and it didn't say anything about them changing colors. Good for your girls on getting away and hiding. Mine have stayed under our playscape most the day. They know he's around somewhere.

 

[MEchickenfarmer33]

yeah i have my own army of crows at my house. anytime i hear them cawing and sqwaking I go outside to protect my girls.

 

[deserthotwings]

No, hawks don't change colors. If your seeing a large light colored hawk it is probably a Harris Hawk. They are big and much lighter colored than a red tail. I raise pheasants and have seen a lot of hawks the past 2 weeks. Guess they are all coming to AZ for the winter. Please beware they will sure clean house on your free ranging birds.

 

[real_redhead]

Well that hawk got something today luckily not one of my girls...the contractor (Ben) working on our house told me he heard a horrible screeching sound and he went to check on the chickens (he was out with me when we saw the hawk the other day). The girls were fine so he went around the house and saw a hawk attack a peregrine falcon right in the middle of the street. The hawk pinned the falcon down and the falcon was screaming and then one of my crazy neighbors who was walking down to get her daughter from school told Ben that he needed to do something to get the hawk to leave she didn't want her daughter to see this. Ben said "lady you have got to be kidding...that hawk just got his dinner and I am not getting in its way!" She proceeded to walk in the street up to the hawk saying "shoo shoo go away" and flapping her arms. Ben told her she better stop cause if the hawk comes after her he's not getting involved! That hawk was huge and no way would I go up to a wild animal with talons like that...some people are NUTS. Its a part of life and educational. I don;t like seeing animals killed but it is waht it is. I just wish I knew exactly who it was!!! She would probably go crazy knowing I am raising chickens in the city! But I feel bad for my girls I haven't let them free range this week after work cause I am worried about that hawk. I guess I'll sit with them a while tomorrow so they can come out!! I just wish I had been here to see it and get some pics!!

 

[Nambroth]

Quote:
Actually red tails do have different color morphs!

http://schmoker.org/BirdPics/RTHA.html

 

[sourland]

Quote:
Actually red tails do have different color morphs!

http://schmoker.org/BirdPics/RTHA.html

I have seen melanistic almost solid black redtails. There is a New York city redtail known as "Pale Male" as he is a buff color. For the first 15 + years that we lived here a large mottled female redtail wintered at the farm across the street. Her favorite perch was in an old ash tree. When we first moved here she had a few white feathers. The winter before she disappeared she was 50 % white.

 

[Pink Delphinium]

Could it possibly be some type of eagle?

 

[southerndesert]

This may help with ID....

http://hbmo.org/Hawk_ID_Chart.pdf

Here is another good one

http://www.americanbirdguide.com/hawks.shtml

 

[uphill.farm]

Came to this forum to see if bald eagles will take chickens - seems like the answer is yes, judging by all these threads. We are on an island in Puget Sound. Our chickens are free-ranging during the day, pastures with lots of tree cover. We've had our share of raccoon predation over the years, but not much hawk or eagle activity that I know of. This summer I had two hatchings of chicks. When the first batch was less than half grown, the mom disappeared one day. She was just gone - no tell-tale pile of feathers or carcass anywhere to indicate raccon attack. Had a second batch of 4 chicks the next month which are about half grown, and suddenly 2 of them are gone, vanished, no sign. I have seen a Cooper's hawk hanging around the chicken house, and usually the rooster and all the girls set up screeching and squawking and head for the underbrush or the coop. But my neighbor said he saw a bald eagle circling strangely low over our place the other day, and now I'm wondering if that's what took the chicks. The baby-hatching this summer is barely keeping up with attrition to predators. And the latest news here on the island is that there have been several accounts of coyote sightings over the summer. Something else to worry about now...