Anyone good at identifying birds?

This has been hanging out in my backyard:



Any ideas what it could be?

Either a Harrier or a Red Tailed Hawk. Harriers overwinter in New England - used to see them outside my office window when I was up there.

How big does it appear to be? It is difficult to tell from the photo. Maybe 6 inches tall? a foot tall?

It looks like a female hawk of some kind, by the look of her beak/face. I'm not sure of the exact name of the bird. It looks like the wing was clipped or cut at some point...

ETA - It does look like a Harrier. http://www.pbase.com/imagestruck/image/70590575 She's just poofed up to keep warm. lol

Originally Posted by PintaMeez

How big does it appear to be? It is difficult to tell from the photo. Maybe 6 inches tall? a foot tall?

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At least a foot. It's bigger than my cat.


After googling harrier and red-tailed hawks, it could very well be either of those.

It is beautiful! A couple years ago, I had some Peregrine Falcons living in a very large dead tree near my house, they were gorgeous and interesting to watch, but VERY noisy. They raised babies up there, that was cool.

Most hawks are quite a bit bigger than a foot, if it is around 12 inches though, I'd say it's a Cooper's Hawk, especially given the relatively small head/beak.

Cooper's Hawk. Look at the s-hook on the railing below it's right foot. Either that's a huge hook or a small hawk. I vote for small hawk. It's probably not a Sharpie (Sharp-shinned Hawk) beause of the rounded end of the tail with a wide white tip. Sharpie's tails are straight across at the end and have a thin white edge.

The yellow eye and thin streaking on the breast show that it's a juvenile Coopers (1st year). Adults have red eyes.

Looking around on eNature.com - I am thinking Coopers or Northern Harrier and it might be an immature bird with the distinctive white banding on the tail.

Not a red-tailed - don't think - we have lots of those around here and true to it's name it has a rust colored tail.

It's an immature Northern Goshawk. The tail striped like that is a definitive marking as well as the "eyebrow." These hawks are about 20 inches, so yes, bigger than a cat. If you want to see a good picture, look at "Stokes Field Guide to Birds." I have the Western edition, but the bird has a large range, including MA. I am a bird watcher.

BTW, Northern Goshawks belong to the family "accipitirdae" which are goshawks and sparrow hawks. What we really think of as hawks are buzzards and hawks, like the red-tailed hawk.

Don't even get me started about falcons. Like I said, I really am a bird watcher.

It's a raptor- that's for sure. They're so pretty.

I have a Sharp-Shinned hawk that will hang around the bird feeders. They are beautiful birds- I just wish they wouldn't use my bird feeders as their personal dining room tables

It looks very much like the goshawks I have in my area. It is hard to tell from the picture but does it have 3 or 5 bands on the underside of it's tail.
3 bands for a goshawk.

Originally Posted by tierre0

It looks very much like the goshawks I have in my area. It is hard to tell from the picture but does it have 3 or 5 bands on the underside of it's tail.
3 bands for a goshawk.

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The pattern of the spots on the chest are that of the goshawk - more like distinct dots. Sharp-shinned hawks have a mottled breast with rufous areas and Cooper's hawks have streaks rather than dots.

We have very hungry Cooper's hawks around here that think that the mourning doves are such a tasty meal.

Thanks for the ideas everyone! It's interesting that you all think it is a juvenile bird. We also thought it was a bit on the small side for a hawk.

Originally Posted by butzie

The pattern of the spots on the chest are that of the goshawk - more like distinct dots. Sharp-shinned hawks have a mottled breast with rufous areas and Cooper's hawks have streaks rather than dots.

We have very hungry Cooper's hawks around here that think that the mourning doves are such a tasty meal.

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The first time I saw a pile of feathers under the feeder- I was puzzled. If it had been a cat- there'd be a bird there. But there were just feathers.

Well, several months later this Sharp Shinned Hawk is sitting on the tree branches- above the feeders. So I figured out that there was a hawk who liked my feeders

The bird was chasing a dove (or something like that) and hit my bow window in the kitchen I was afraid the poor bird was seriously hurt- so I called a local rehabber. By the time the rehabber got back to me- we'd picked the bird up- set him on the outside table to get his (her?) bearings, and it had flown off.

Don't have time now- but I promise sometime within the next day I'll post a couple of pictures of it. It was kind of neat seeing a raptor up that close.

There is a big pile of feathers and some blood under one of my feeders today.

Originally Posted by AbbysMom

There is a big pile of feathers and some blood under one of my feeders today.

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Eeep! I guess that new bird feeder works, huh? Little did you know that the bird you'd be feeding would be a hawk.

Yeah, no squirrels yet., just hawks.

I love how everyone is sure it's a different sort of bird

Luckily, I am an expert and can definitively tell you it's a "White-chested brown bird with spots".