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LuvKillzTheDemon — Hawk
Published: 2011-05-31 21:36:53 +0000 UTC; Views: 2669; Favourites: 164; Downloads: 10
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Description
This was taken in Washington D.C... This hawk was just walking around in a park.. the first night we were there he was eating a rat or mouse of some sort and of course my battery was dead.. ha that happens to me all the time.. But I got him the second day... We were so close to him.. It was very surprising.. He just watched us.. It was so amazing to see a hawk so close and he didnt even seem to care we were there... Im not sure whether it a Cooper's Hawk or a Red Tailed Hawk... Can anyone tell the difference...Related content
Comments: 16
i think it's a juvenile red tail. i found a dead one 
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Hmmmm I think it's a red tailed hawk and great job!
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I concur with most of the above posters: immature Red-tailed Hawk.
The proportions scream "Buteo" (the genus of the "soaring hawks," of which the Redtail is the most widely known): the relatively short, stocky tarsi (lower part of legs), the bulky body, the robust head and beak. Furthermore, the field marks match the classic Redtail: pale breast, "belly band" of black streaks across the breast (though somewhat diminutive in this individual), white "throat patch," and the brown-with-black-barring tail characteristics of a juvenile (barely visible).
Accipiters (of which the Cooper's Hawk is the mid-sized of the three N. American spp.) are quite lanky, with very long tails and tarsi, and slim bodies. In addition to general proportions, there are at least two solid reasons why this is NOT a Cooper's Hawk. 1) The breast feathers would either have brown-red barring (adult) or vertical brown streaking (juvenile) rather than creamy. 2) Accipiters' eyes progress from a pale yellow to orange to a deep red. This bird's eyes don't really match the accipiters I've had in-hand.
Do you recall the time of year this was taken?
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That's definately a young Red-Tailed Hawk. Good shot, and that's cool you had that experience!!!
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That is a juvenile red tailed hawk. My father is a falconer and has a red tailed hawk of his own, Loki. Falconers can only trap birds of prey if they are juveniles. This is a juvenile because it's tail feathers are not completely 'red' yet, and it's sear (the flesh above the beak) is not green. It looks like it's just maturing into adult hood though, because it's eyes are a light brown, they are golden yellow when young.
This could be a female too, because it's a pretty big red tailed hawk, females are always the largest of their species.
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Looks like a red-tailed [link] they're more common to the USA than coopers too.
Nice shot lucky you could get so close
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Sooo... sooo... cute. I just want to hug it haha (but that would be bad; bird's of prey do not take kindly to human cuddling). I would guess that it's a Cooper's Hawk. The back feather's aren't long or bright enough for it to be an adult Redtail. It could be a young Redtail.
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I call red tailed. I saw one fly really close to me the other day. It looked just like this one, and also, red tails are the most common. But I guess another commentor already gave you an answer. xD
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Most likely your right along with the other commenter... Thanks...
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Beautiful capture.
However... are you sure this is a Cooper's hawk? I suppose she could be a juvenile, but Coops tend to have very fine beaks, and more well-streaked fronts. There are a couple other things that suggest this may not be a Cooper's (eye colour, wing shape, etc). Coops are also pretty tiny, and this hawk looks fairly large. Coops are also notoriously nervy birds, and generally don't like being around people much.
Could she be a red tailed hawk (maybe a subadult)? She has the right build, colour, eye colour, etc for it.
Either way, and either hawk, this one is definitely a favourite photo of mine!
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I did some research on it and it was hard to define the type of hawk... I was stuck between Coopers and a red tail ... Most likely it is a red tail... and Im glad you said something about it because I was indecisive on what kind of hawk it was... Thank you...
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