Saturday, December 22, 2012

The Red-Tailed Hawk

I spied this hawk in front of the house earlier this week. I believe it is a red-tailed hawk.


The hawk is a bird of prey.


The bird eats small animals, such as songbirds, mice, squirrels, etc.


This hawk is quite large; nearly two feet tall, I suspect. I thought at first it was a huge owl.


Looks very scary up in the top of the pine.


Hawks are supposed to have great eye sight. Hence the saying: eyes like a hawk.


Hawks migrate, so perhaps this one was on its way elsewhere. Or maybe here was where it came to spend the winter, I don't know.



Female hawks are usually larger than the males. Given the size of this monster, I might surmise the bird is a "she."



The red-tailed hawk is the most populous in North America.


When the bird flew, it looked like its wing span was about four-feet wide! But it is hard to tell from the ground.

5 comments:

  1. Great pictures, Anita! We get hawks around here a lot...and they always worry me because we have SO many songbirds. But usually, the crows quickly congregate to chase the interloper off...that's always fun to watch.

    A blessed and wondrous Christmas and New Year to you and your family.

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  2. We get a few hawks in our area too and usually the crows gang up on it and chase it out of the neighborhood. Fun to watch.

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  3. Great photos, Anita! I have seen three variety of hawks where I live -- red-tail, cooper and broadwing -- and never tire of watching those magnificent birds.

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  4. We have seen a few hawks around our home, especially in the vicinity of the feeders. Unfortunately, one managed to capture a male cardinal and flew away with its prey last year. The biggest threat here is the neighbor's cats which wander into our yard.

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  5. I love it when I see birds of prey soaring over our farm. I hate it when I discover they are usually buzzards.

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