cheryllynn744: (The thread that will never end :-) Your question is what started this thread, lo, those many years ago. Best thing I've been able to do is to use one of those New Year's noise-makers that you crank that makes an ungodly noise--something the hawk has not previously heard that will freak him/her out. I have a stuffed owl up in my back yard, and it might as well not be there. For me, it worked fine for a week, and every bird in the vicinity was stressed out and came to squawk at it from a safe distance, and some were bold enough to get quite close. Couple of Bluebirds flew right above it, and hovered (as Bluebirds will) for a few moments, checking it out. But unless you move the decoy almost daily, songbirds soon learn that it is no threat to them, and they won't pay any more attention to it. Been there for about a year, and most of its feathers are gone, but it still has the silouhette of an owl--to no avail. -------------------------------------------------------- Recent hawk episode for me involved a dove nesting in my window sill. Doves--like pigeons--are "ledge nesters", and sometimes only place a few sticks on a ledge to keep the (2) eggs from rolling away. My dove built a little more elaborate nest, with lots of sticks forming a nest between my double-hung window and double-hung storm window, about 4 inches apart. I had the storm window raised about 10 inches, quite by mistake, and a dove nested there last year (between the 2 windows) and fledged 2 baby doves. Success! Another dove used the same nest this year, and added sticks to it. Unfortunately, the dove began setting on eggs about March 4th, where there were no leaves on the trees (yet) in my area, and the dove was more visible than last year. One morning about 2 weeks ago, I heard a THUMP on the window about daylight, and I opened the curtain and looked out. The dove was gone, the 2 white eggs were exposed in the nest, and a Peregrine Falcon was sitting on a tree limb outside the window, no more than 3 or 4 feet away. The Falcon saw me through the window pane, and flew off. The dove stayed away the rest of the day, and did not come back and begin setting on the eggs (again) until the next day. I thought it was rather remarkable that it even returned, after being attacked by a hawk (falcon). I had no idea how it survived the attack, since it seemed more-or-less trapped there, inside the two windows. But the THUMP sounded like the falcon hitting the window, so somehow, it slipped away. Maybe the falcon tried to attack from above, and hit the glass above the dove. I had an idea the falcon would come back and try again and sure enough, about 4 days later, another WHUMP on the window. Same result--I looked out, the dove was gone, the eggs were exposed, and the Peregrine Falcon was 3 or 4 feet away on a tree branch. But this time, I had gotten my crank, New Year's noise-maker out of the closet and had it on my dresser. I grabbed it, and ran up the hall and opened the front door as quietly as I could. The falcon was still sitting in the tree, and I eased out and cranked-out a bunch of raucous noise while running toward the tree, and the falcon freaked out and flew out of the tree. Unbelievable that the dove returned AGAIN, only a few hours later, and began setting on its eggs again, the very same day, after (somehow) surviving the second strike by the Peregrine Falcon!! Again, it sounded like the falcon hit the glass above the dove. The falcon did not return, and the dove continued setting for about 3 or 4 more days. Then one morning I heard noise in the window, and I peeped out to see the dove turning the eggs over beneath it, and it appeared to be examining them. Soon after, it flew away, and left the nest and the eggs, and did not return. After the dove did not come back many days later, it was obvious the dove had abandoned the nest, and I raised the window and got the 2 eggs out, and put them in my basement. I have an idea what I will find when I crack them open; I think I'll find 2 babies that were nearly ready to hatch until the dove flew away after the first falcon strike and stayed away for more than a day. I believe the eggs may have got too cold that night she was away, and the babies inside probably froze--or otherwise died wiithout their mother there to keep them warm. Shame that she spent weeks there, only to have it end that way. But amazing that she had the resolve to return after 2 falcon attacks and continue to TRY and hatch the eggs. And more amazing that she escaped with her own life. wt

Yep, same crop-gorged immature redtail.

Well it was people that didn't really know any better, but i wanted to be sure since i am doing a presentation on it. How embarrassing would it be to do a presentation on it, and it turns out to be wrong.But wow thanks a lot i really appreciate it. The class is called biology for naturalists, and i really enjoy it. The area i live in is on the St. Lawrence River but specifically in a huge wetland area in Akwesasne, an Indian reservation that straddles the U.S. Canadian border, so i am sure to have many more pictures of better quality to show soon. Again thanks.

Yes, and confusing for those starting out too. Both Peterson's guide to Hawks and Wheeler & Clark's A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors state that the Fuertes and Krider Red-tailed Hawk subspecies/type lacks the dark belly band typical of the common Red-Tailed Hawk. In Sibley's big book it is stated that "Perched light morph Red-tailed hawks of all ages typically show a dark "belly-band" and a V - shaped pattern of white speckling on the back, both of which are excellent clues for identification." Couldn't see the back, but these descriptions along with the absence of the dark upper breast coloration present in the Swainson's and the lack of the feathers going all the way down to the feet in the Ferruginous tend to rule out those other two kinds of hawks which have a white belly. So I think it is may be one of those types of RTH although Krider's does seem to be almost an albino. Really neat hawks though. The chest looks like a pillow. Someone should start making pillows out of feathers instead of polyurethane.