Hutch sent the photo, wondering if the bird is a peregrine falcon. We couldn’t say for sure from consulting various online sources, so thanks in advance to any of the many expert birdwatchers of West Seattle who might offer an opinion. ADDED 11:18 PM: Rob sent this next photo he took near Schmitz Park a week ago, thinking it’s the same bird and hoping the photo might help with ID:
I believe this is a Sharp-shinned Hawk. It might also be a Cooper’s Hawk. Both are fairly similar and there are many of them in West Seattle.
I think it is a Cooper’s Hawk, although I will grant that the distinction between the Cooper’s and the Sharp-shinned Hawk is one of the toughest in hawk ID. The dark cap on the head and the size of the feet make me think Cooper’s Hawk.
Peregrines don’t typically hang out on patios. They perch high so they can make a long, high-speed run at their prey. Cooper’s and Sharp-shins usually perch less conspicuously while hunting as they are short-distance ambush hunters.
Let me add to the Cooper’s-or-Sharp-Shinned thread – hard to tell between those two types. We see them from time to time. We once had one knock a robin down into our yard. The hawk came looking and perched on our fence near where the robin had fallen. I got a good look at it. I had apparently come across the robin right after it fell, thinking a cat had killed it I’d buried it, unwittingly depriving the hawk of its meal.
It doesn’t look like a sharp shinned hawk, although there is variation in the species itself. That photo is a bit fuzzy. A good birder looks at behavior, any calls the bird might make, flight pattern… these things are important in determining a specific bird.
Or maybe Fred. Yeah, I should’ve used “identify” rather than “name” :)
IT DOES NOT HAVE THE FAMOUS HANDLEBAR SIDE MARKINGS OF A PEREGRINE FALCON. NOT SURE WHAT IT IS THOUGH. WE HAVE PEREGRINE FALCONS THAT RESIDE ON OUR BUILDING AT WORK AND I WATCH MANY FALCON CAMS ON THE WEB. THIS DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A PEREGRINE FALCON.
I’ve also seen this fly through my back yard, hanging around the feeder looking for small prey. After consulting our bird book, my wife and I thought it was the Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Thanks for all of the information everyone…the picture was actually taken by my neighbor as I was unaware of it’s presence in our yard…regardless of the species it’s not big enough to take on my 10 lb. Min Pin is it?
Thanks for the report and photo. These are beautiful birds! The sharp-shinned Hawk is distinguished from the Cooper’s Hawk by a shorter square tail, thinner legs, and proportionally smaller head. The lenght is 10-14″. The Cooper’s length is larger – 14-20″. (source National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America)
No way it would tackle any dog or cat. They prey on birds (and a very few small mammals) and only up to about the size of a pigeon. Pigeons weigh less than one pound.
I don’t know about all hawks, but I’ve known owls to go after small dogs & cats. My friends 10 LB-ish Cairn terrier Sebastian nearly got carted off by an owl once. Left permanent talon marks on his back too. Just saying.
As for Cooper’s, hard to say from this photo, but they have *very* distinct banding on their tails. Also, they’re considerably larger than a Peregrine.
I suspect sharp-shinned. They’re definitely not large enough to prey upon an adult cat or dog. Some years ago, our cat apparently caught and ate one; we found the two yellow feet, the beak, and tail feathers outside our back door. (That cat was a constant hunter and eater of what he caught — ew.)
Cooper’s Hawks are not larger than Peregrines. Peregrine Falcons average a bit longer and more wingspan and quite a lot heavier. The markings are a bigger difference though. As RENEE mentioned the Peregrine has the distinctive sideburn markings on the face (which I think is what she means by “handlebars”).
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There are many other plumage differences as well; you can vaguely make out the pale rusty barring on the breast and belly of this Cooper’s Hawk. I used to teach raptor ID for Seattle Audubon but the current class is being taught by Tom Aversa, a raptor keeper at Woodland Park Zoo. Give them a call if you want to take a class that should be really interesting. He really knows his stuff.
LOVE the photo of the squirrel seemingly unaware of the Sharpie lurking above. What a great shot!
The shot of the bird on the feeder with the squirrel is priceless. That could well be a Sharp Shinned Hawk, although a Cooper’s Hawk is almost identical, so hard to be exact.
The 2nd photo is indeed an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk, and not the same bird as in the first photo. These two species are the cause of more arguments among birders than probably any other two species. Notice how small the Sharp-shin is compared to the squirrel? That means it is probably a male Sharp-shin.
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Most male hawks are smaller than the female of the species. Why this is the case (which is the opposite of most birds) is always a hot topic in raptor biology.
JumboJim – Not the same bird as in the first photo? They kinda look a bit similar to me…fricken, flyin’ imposters! Hopefully Boeing considers this risk and moves it’s operations out of state.
This is no Peregrine. Every Peregrine I’ve ever seen was hunting squirrels–and I’ve seen quite a few–If this were a Peregrine, that squirrel wouldn’t be feeding. It would be running.
This is definitely not a Peregrine Falcon. In the first shot, you can easily see that the squirrel is far larger than the bird. A peregrine would dwarf the squirrel. Squirrels would also be prey items for Peregrines and wouldn’t go on with business as usual if one was around. To me it looks like an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk (which preys largely on song birds). There’s still a little room for doubt because the photos are a little inadequate (it looks like they were cell phone shots).
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