SHARP SHINNED HAWKAccipiter striatus
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ISAIAH 55:8-9, FOR MY THOUGHTS ARE NOT YOUR THOUGHTS, NEITHER ARE YOUR WAYS MY WAYS, SAITH THE LORD. FOR AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THEY EARTH SO ARE MY WAYS HIGHER THAN YOUR WAYS, AND MY THOUGHTS THAN YOUR THOUGHTS. |
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We are not 100% that this is a Sharp Shinned Hawk but we have a consensus among ourselves and friends. In order to come to this conclusion , we had three possibilities: Cooper's Hawk, Sharp-Shinned Hawk, or like we initially thought a Red-tailed Hawk (Juvenile). We used the meal dish as a measurement and estimated it was about 17.5 inches tall. This equates to my gut at the time, as I told Abby via phone after that I thought it was about 18 inches (it looks smaller in pictures but it wasn't). I personally thought that the Cooper's hawk is ruled out for this reason. The top height for a Coopers is around 14 inches. Then the argument may was made for it being a Red-Tailed Juvenile or Sharp Shinned. So, I initially leaned toward the Red-Tailed because I find it hard to believe another Hawk would come this close to the Territory unless it was mate. Of course, it was at the meal worm dish (though not the easy meal it was looking for I guess). At that time it there was no meal worms but there were doves here on the railing; though, none of them were victims. We were looking through the camera at another bird at the time and only panned to the dish because of the melee I heard from the dish area. IThe Hawk sat in/on the dish for about 1.5 minutes (used the time codes on pics) flew to the ground, then left about 30 seconds later empty talon-ed. It flew south then a few minutes and disappeared. It reappeared a few minutes later heading east over the other the empty nest where the other Hawk sits). |
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As of 2020, she returned once every two or three weeks in the winter. Interestingly enough, we would have better pictures but she comes mostly in the evenings or on a raining stormy days. As far as we know she has never come as close to the feeder as the day she dropped in on the mealworm dish (shocked me as I was sitting right inside the door having my morning coffee as is my habit first thing). The Cooper's Hawk however has dared several times to land in the nearest tree to the feeder.
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