Wild birds in my area

Kamma70 · #1 01-17-2010, 08:09 PM

Can anyone identify these birds for me. They were huge, pics don't do them justice, and loud. In the tree to the right of my house, for about 30 minutes sitting there talking to each other. It was so cool to see.

Buba · #2 01-17-2010, 08:39 PM

What did they say?

Green Lantern · #3 01-18-2010, 07:35 AM

I PM'd a bird expert on TD and hope he will respond.

That is about all the help I can give.

Summerrain · #4 01-18-2010, 07:42 AM

Kind of looks like perrigrine falcons...

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daisy-dog · #5 01-18-2010, 07:44 AM

daisy-dog · #6 01-18-2010, 08:05 AM

Or Coopers hawk

Cooper's Hawk on Vimeo

Lauren Pizzo · #7 01-18-2010, 08:11 AM

My husband tells me that it is a parent and a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk. In the winter they stalk bird feeders.

Lauren Pizzo · #8 01-18-2010, 08:15 AM

Lauren Pizzo · #9 01-18-2010, 08:16 AM

That is the sharp-shinned hawk above. Per my husband the birds do look like the Cooper's Hawk but they are rare. The odds of seeing two Cooper's Hawks is slim.

Kamma70 · #10 01-18-2010, 08:21 AM

Wow, Lauren thats them. Thank you...I looked up so many different birds but couldn't find them.

Lauren Pizzo · #11 01-18-2010, 08:43 AM

You are welcome. I will thank my husband. He is an avid bird watcher.

Luray · #12 01-18-2010, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lauren Pizzo

My husband tells me that it is a parent and a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk. In the winter they stalk bird feeders.

Yeah, and they don't always clean up after themselves, either. Yuck. I'm always picking up pigeon parts from our backyard.

But they're still beautiful birds; we have several in our neighborhood as well. The juvenile hawks that started coming around several winters ago are all grown up now. I love watching them as they watch the birds at our feeder ...

Kamma70 · #13 01-18-2010, 09:01 AM

Yes, please tell him thank you. We have had the mother in our neighborhood for a few years now, oh maybe 5 years, but never saw a second one till last week. I have since seen them 3 more times and they are beautiful to watch. You can hear mommy calling to baby [thanks to your husband for letting us know they are family]. Its a really cool sound.

Orion · #14 01-18-2010, 10:08 AM

Cool captures.

pocono bunny · #15 01-18-2010, 10:43 AM

very cool pic's

Raptor · #16 01-18-2010, 03:20 PM

Cooper's are not rare in the mid-Atlantic...they are one of the more common hawks in the area...its more than likely a mating pair of Cooper's (they mate for life and it is getting to be that time of the year for them)...the female is the larger bird and the way to tell the difference between a Sharp-Shinned and a Cooper's (other than by size - Sharpies are just a little bigger than a blue-jay) is by the tail...the Cooper's is rounded, Sharpie's are square.

Green Lantern · #17 01-18-2010, 06:45 PM

Raptor is a good friend from mine from TD. He owned and operated the Wild Bird Center store across from Target on 202 and Naamans in De.

Thanks for clearing it all up Raptor!

Green Lantern · #18 01-18-2010, 06:47 PM

Raptor,

I had a whole bunch of robins in my yard yesterday. I thought they were a spring bird. Why are they around now in January?

Raptor · #19 01-19-2010, 06:03 AM

Robins tend to flock in the winter, following food and water sources. Its not unusual to see them hanging out with Starlings, Grackles, and Red-Wing Blackbirds at this time of year. In another 60-90 days they'll start to break the flocks and seek out mates and territories for breeding.

Kamma70 · #20 01-19-2010, 09:14 PM

Last week looked like attack of the birds out front of my house, it was crazy and loud. So many different kinds of birds in my yard and three other neighbors yards. had to be 80-100 birds, small, med and large. Came in to get my camera and a car went by and off the went as fast as they came. Haven't seen that many at one time since.