Fall brought hawk sightings

Every bird migration is different than the one before. This fall, there were more accipiters than usual. The National Geographic Society Field Guide for Birds of North America describes accipiters as, "low-flying woodland hawks with short, rounded wings and long tails for speed and agility. Females are larger than males. Three species occur in North America." All three, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk and Northern Goshawk, appeared in my yard at different times. They were hungry, hunting and frightening all small birds into hiding. Song birds are their favorite food.

The first to appear was a Cooper's Hawk that perched at the very top of our Poplar trees. The Coopers and Sharp-shinned Hawks are sometimes hard to tell apart. Coopers have longer, rounded tails with larger heads. This adult had the red downward streaks on the breast and belly, and a larger head. Seeing the Cooper maneuver through trees at a fast speed aided by that long tail is really an amazing sight. Its prey has to do some smart turns to avoid being caught.

The Sharp-shinned Hawk has a smaller head, and shorter neck and tail. The tail is squared and may appear notched when folded. The streaks on the breast appear horizontal. In all three species, the immature are brown in color on the back with brown streaks on the breast and golden eyes. All three species look somewhat alike, while the adults have a bluish back with red breast streaks and red eyes. So confusion is easy. The direction of the streaks is a help. Horizontal in the Sharp-shinned, and the Goshawk is just a huge bird.

Imagine my excitement the evening when I had two immature Goshawks in my yard. They flew through the backyard close to the ground around the shed and back to the west. Their speed of flight really got my attention as they flew like two F-16s in formation. Later, I determined one had stolen food from the other. Grabbing my binoculars I walked out into the rows of trees in the backyard. Luckily, I came from the west into the path as at the other end, at first glance was a bird on the ground that looked big enough to be a pheasant. Using my binocs I determined it was a Goshawk. Hunger prompted it to continue eating. The National Geographic book says they are 14-21 inches long. It looked a good 20 inches from the tip of the tail to the beak. The legs were far apart and it stood like a bow-legged cowboy as it pulled the flesh from the bones. When it flew off, I found the remains of part of a back bone and a breast bone that was picked clean. Seeing them solved the mysterious screeches I heard for several days.

In the light of day, it was even more exciting and scary. While sitting on the ramp in front of the garage the next morning eating breakfast and enjoying the morning, I saw our dog, Zack, coming toward me. All at once from the trees, about 30 feet away a huge bird stooped and dove and was flying just inches above Zack with its legs down and talons visible. The bird finally saw me as I thought it was going to fly into my face and then zoomed over my head and on over the garage, just like Top Gun. Some mighty fancy maneuvering. If I had not been there, Zack could have become a Goshawk breakfast. Zack was then put under house arrest in a closed garage. He had no idea what danger he had been in and was very indignant about being in lock down. He ignored my calls and attempts to hold and pet him until released to the yard.

I guess the Goshawk moved on south on his journey, and Zack is now outside sniffing and roaming his realm.

Birding can dangerous if you are a dog.

Norma J. Erickson is a longtime bird watcher who lives in Greeley with her family.