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Magpie
Immortal
Dec 6 2013, 7:54pm
Post #1 of 42
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Bird Gurus... help me identify this bird
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When I'm at my computer, I can see my street and the trees across the street from me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a large bird swoop down and glanced up expecting to see a crow. Instead, it was a large raptor of some sort that was attempting to catch a squirrel. It didn't catch it and it lit in a low branch on a tree. I ran downstairs and grabbed the binoculars and went to the front porch to look. Then I ran to get the camera to take a picture.
Now, in order to get a good shot at it, I was going to have to step outside the front door. It's 2 degrees (-14 Windchill!). And I thought my coming out the door might startle it so I stepped out without making any sharp moves but then I let the screen/storm door shut on its own. When it's below 10 degrees, the hydraulics on the door closer don't work and it slams shut very hard and loud! (a sure sign of falling temps is when the front door slams).
But the bird didn't move. I got two shots of it and then ran back in for the binoculars and bird book to see what I could figure out while it sat there. Just then, it flew off the branch and into my front yard, swooping up to meet another one! while a third was flying nearby! The two who were flying at each other kind of presented talons at each other but then just flew off.
Now, large raptors are around here and lots of people in other neighborhoods report seeing them (the apparently really like backyard chickens). But this is my first sighting other than just fly overs and three at one time and chasing squirrels. Well, I had to call my husband (this has been our year of birding) at work to report the news.
Anyhow, I'm going to go look at more pictures but it's been my experience that someone here can identify them way more quickly than I can (and with more surety).
On my list to try to spot are snowy owls who apparently like the area around the airport. The way to spot them is to drive around the roads in the airport that aren't exactly private but that driving on gains the attention of the security guards.
LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
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DanielLB
Immortal
Dec 6 2013, 8:01pm
Post #2 of 42
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Does he look a lot like this fellow?
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Link to image.
It looks like a brown-winged hawk to me. (But I got the last "what bird is this?" wrong).
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Magpie
Immortal
Dec 6 2013, 8:06pm
Post #3 of 42
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possibly, but I suspect it's a red-tailed hawk
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http://www.allaboutbirds.org/...e/Red-tailed_hawk/id
One: I know there are lots of red-tailed hawks here but I have to see the back of their tail - which is red - to properly identify them. But the breast pattern is similar to my photo and yours.
Two: red-tailed hawks are here year around and brown-winged hawks supposedly aren't (Minnesota).
I found one site that was comparing Cooper's Hawks (which we have here in the city) to the Red-tailed Hawks but I can't see that Cooper's Hawks have white on their upper breast.
A red-tailed hawk isn't a newly sited bird for us (I see them many days on my way to work) but the 'story' is worth a hundred mere 'sighting'. :-)
(and I should specify that when I said in my original post 'this is my first sighting' ... I meant the first one in the vicinity of my house - most I see are in the parks and along the highway/airport.)
LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
(This post was edited by Magpie on Dec 6 2013, 8:09pm)
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Brethil
Half-elven
Dec 6 2013, 8:12pm
Post #4 of 42
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Off hhand it loks like a Cooper's Hawk Magpie
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I have both Coops and Sharpies here - going for that prey plus the thickness of the crop and upper chest I would say Coop.
That softly rounded, pale tail...plus the chest spotting without a rufous neck band says Cooper to me.
I love them. One female hunts in the back yard (rock pigeons or doves) and plucks in front of our kitchen window.
The second TORn Amateur Symposium is running right now, in the Reading Room. Come have a look and maybe stay to chat!
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Auxerre
Rivendell
Dec 6 2013, 8:17pm
Post #5 of 42
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That was my first thought, too.
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I think your guess of Cooper's is right.
I have both Coops and Sharpies here - going for that prey plus the thickness of the crop and upper chest I would say Coop.
That softly rounded, pale tail...plus the chest spotting without a rufous neck band says Cooper to me.
I love them. One female hunts in the back yard (rock pigeons or doves) and plucks in front of our kitchen window.
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Eowyn of Penns Woods
Valinor
Dec 6 2013, 8:24pm
Post #8 of 42
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I've checked my Peterson's Hawks of North America
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and I'm still going with Eastern Red-tailed juvenile.
**********************************
NABOUF
Not a TORns*b!
Certified Curmudgeon
Knitting Knerd
NARF: NWtS Chapter Member since June 17,2011
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Brethil
Half-elven
Dec 6 2013, 9:04pm
Post #11 of 42
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In some stages the juvenile Coop can be whiter up top
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but I could to incline towards young redtail - just pulled out the book myself. As I wrote to Eowyn, the distinct tail band is a bit different for a redtail but maybe just the angle of the shot.
And if the sound fits a redtail that might be a deciding factor!
The second TORn Amateur Symposium is running right now, in the Reading Room. Come have a look and maybe stay to chat!
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Magpie
Immortal
Dec 6 2013, 9:15pm
Post #12 of 42
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I think the marking on the tail is a shadow (edited to add link to larger photo)
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The branch is throwing a shadow on the upper part of that tail. I've prepared a shot for the neighbors that will show shadows on houses that might provide context.
https://picasaweb.google.com/...#5954390630280345698
I think I'm seeing lots of varieties of raptors but I just can't identify them at the distance they're at. Unless I can get a photograph to study after the fact, I can't catch enough detail either.
Btw, we went birding near the Minnesota River on another cold, windy day (not 4 degrees cold though). One can take a board walk out past the shore vegetation onto a largish lake that runs parallel to the river. We could see an Eagle's nest across the lake in binoculars and lots of eagles flying over the lake.
One flew quite close and we thought it might be a Golden Eagle as we had reports they were migrating through. But further research convinced us they were just juvenile Bald Eagles. As a novice birder, it's hard to remember that juvenile's can look a bit different than their parents even though they're pretty much the same size.
LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
(This post was edited by Magpie on Dec 6 2013, 9:20pm)
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Brethil
Half-elven
Dec 6 2013, 9:16pm
Post #13 of 42
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I love you seeing them gesturing at each other with their talons!
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What a neat interaction!
We had a first-year Cooper sitting in the holly last winter, quietly cleaning herself. She wasn't hunting, but the cardinals and blue jays all spooked and alarmed madly at first; but she just sat there and they all calmed down - some of the blue jays looked a bit puzzled, cocking their heads to the sides. One Cardinal actually ended up sitting about 3 feet from her. I knew if I got up for he camera the smaller birds would spook so I just sat and watched it. They stayed like that for about ten minutes before quietly going separate ways.
The second TORn Amateur Symposium is running right now, in the Reading Room. Come have a look and maybe stay to chat!
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Brethil
Half-elven
Dec 6 2013, 9:20pm
Post #14 of 42
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So true - figuring out juveniles is a whole category in itself
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Young bald eagles! What a sight!
We go up to the Hudson Valley in February to watch the Bald Eagles begin to nest on Iona Island and Bear Mountain area. I had some fantastic pictures on my old computer (which just bit the digital dust). I hope I can get some more this year. If so I will post them.
I love when you get bird pics Magpie. So much fun to talk about.
Adding: just saw your note on the tail - hard to tell if it is shadow or band. True, if it is shadow versus a band that makes it more likely to be a redtail *I think*.
The second TORn Amateur Symposium is running right now, in the Reading Room. Come have a look and maybe stay to chat!
(This post was edited by Brethil on Dec 6 2013, 9:22pm)
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Magpie
Immortal
Dec 6 2013, 9:39pm
Post #18 of 42
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Here are the photos we took of birds we've seen:
https://picasaweb.google.com/.../BirdsInTheBackyard#
And here is the list:
https://docs.google.com/...5Gk/edit?usp=sharing
We've always done what we could to attract birds and wildlife to our urban back yard and I could identify quite a few birds just off hand.
But deciding to both keep track of all birds we saw in 2013 and to seek out and identify as many as we could was one of the best things we've ever done. We get outside a lot more. We're much more willing to go out on a blustery day for a 20 minute walk in the hopes of seeing trumpeter swans than just a 20 minute walk.
What has surprised me is *seeing* birds I've never *seen* before in my own back yard. Were they always there? (at least at some point in the year) and I never noticed them? Or was this their first visit.
I am slightly disappointed to leave the year unable to identify distinct species of birds I'm seeing like gulls and smaller raptors. I see them. But I can't identify them from the distance I'm seeing them - usually while driving by.
The other cool bird incident we had this year was the chipping sparrow that was feeding the juvenile starling. I'm sure this was a case of parasitic egg laying in the chipping sparrow's nest.
https://picasaweb.google.com/...#5897248513403955842
I would love to see pictures. I am trying hard to learn new things about bird identification all the time.
LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
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Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven
Dec 6 2013, 9:50pm
Post #19 of 42
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...agrees that it's a young red-tail hawk. A very common hawk, he adds, although perhaps more in this part of the country. In any events, how great to get such a good photo of one!
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Brethil
Half-elven
Dec 6 2013, 9:52pm
Post #20 of 42
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Yes, you are right, the starlings will use other nests to lay eggs in. The most common nest parasite are the brown headed cowbirds: they are 100% nest parasites and the best match seems to be with starlings - with smaller birds (like the chipping you saw) those larger babies can effectively starve the rest of the mother's native brood.
LOVELY Indigo Bunting! I would so love to see one in person. Lucky to get such a great pic!
Our white-breasted Nuthatches work tirelessly stashing safflower seed...often and funny for us (not to the Nuthatch I'm sure) any downy woodpecker who notes its activity will follow behind it an vacuum up all its stashed seeds. We had red-breasted last year with the irruption, but I read that the conifer crop in Canada is almost record this year so we won't see any of them.
The neatest bird we saw this year was a migrating male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I think he was heading out to the east end of LI, but he stopped here for about 5 days, eating and actually napping on our largest feeder between meals. He looked hungry and exhausted!
Your Eastern Towhee is a great shot too, so clear. We saw them when we went to Walt Disney World last year, there was huge family of about 12 of them living in the shrubbery outside of our resort (Port Orleans, Riverside).
Do you ever go on Ebird? That's where I track my sightings. Though I have been slacking this year, I have to get back to logging in weekly. Been to busy on TORn I think! 
The second TORn Amateur Symposium is running right now, in the Reading Room. Come have a look and maybe stay to chat!
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Magpie
Immortal
Dec 6 2013, 10:02pm
Post #22 of 42
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I finally settled on watching this site, which isn't loading for me at the moment:
http://birding.aba.org/mobiledigest/MN02
It's about birds all over MN but it's the only place I've found with up to date info on what people are seeing in the Twin Cities area.
I also like looking at the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Facebook page where they post pictures.
https://www.facebook.com/MOUMN
That Indigo Bunting was a thrill. I'm used to Blue Jays, Cardinals, and Goldfinches but those are the only colorful birds that I've seen (in home territory outside the zoo!)
There are some birds not on my list being reported on city lakes but hiking around open areas at below zero windchill temps is grueling. I don't have the clothes for it nor the shoes for the slippery conditions we have right now.
LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
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Brethil
Half-elven
Dec 6 2013, 10:11pm
Post #23 of 42
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And the lead story is the Snowy irruption! Which is right in your neck of the woods! One of our weather forecasters photographed one here, on the South Shore, two days ago. Very exciting!
E-bird.org
They provide news as well as reporting options, which helps them but also is neat because you can keep your Life List there.
The second TORn Amateur Symposium is running right now, in the Reading Room. Come have a look and maybe stay to chat!
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Magpie
Immortal
Dec 6 2013, 10:22pm
Post #24 of 42
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I had never seen that word before
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'irruption' till I saw it in a post title at the MN bird list site. At first I couldn't get it to load then, when I did, the link it provided didn't work. In looking at that map, it doesn't look like the Twin Cites has any reports and there aren't many in MN as compared to Michigan.
Snowy Owls are commonly seen on a utility road at the airport that services a few business including Fed Ex. The road actually goes under the runways so it's right ON the airport property. Although the road isn't private, driving on it in an aimless manner (like really slow while you look out the windows, pull out scopes, and/or take pictures...) attracts the attention of the security patrols. They are apparently aware of the area's attraction to birders but aren't 100% happy with lurkers.
Anyhow, I've been working up my nerve to go driving on the road to see what we can see. I am such a rule follower and don't want to get into trouble but it's not like we're not allowed on the road. :-)
http://www.birdchick.com/...minneapolis-airport/
I'm going to bookmark the E-bird site. Thanks.
LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
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Annael
Immortal
Dec 6 2013, 11:00pm
Post #25 of 42
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not just looks but the behavior.
The way we imagine our lives is the way we are going to go on living our lives.
- James Hillman, Healing Fiction
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Its close but now I'm thinking Redtail, Auxerre! The band may be a shadow. //
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