Spotted this Collared Sparrowhawk(i think) in my yard yesterday - first of all i couldn't make it out from the back then it turned it's head and i saw those eyes
don't know if it is young but it tried taking off with it's prey but managed to only hop a couple of feet - so it stayed there until it was finished
sorry about the quality but it would have to park itself in the shade
I've never seen these birds before. That bird kind of looks evil, doesn't it. Look at it's eyes and dark feathers. Poor Pigeon but it's nature.
What a stunning bird! And isn't it great that you saw it in your yard? Thanks so much for posting the photos.
Yes it does look evil Kimbolina the yellow eyes don't help
it is great that it was in my backyard Andy - in a town of 100,000 + people about 1 mile as the crow flies from the centre of town - it was funny though i was just about to go out to pay a bill when i spotted it - ran to the camera then to the back door which i had to quickly open again because i had just locked it to go out and slowly stick the camera lens out (the bill had to wait :P) - luckily i was by myself but my family already know i'm the crazy bird lady :)
i can't get enough of them
will be my birthday soon and Hubby says the other day what is your favourite bird - well daa ALL OF THEM :)))))
They are nice birds and lucky to see it out in the open as they are very sneaky.
Cheers, Owen.
I always love to see pictures of BOP. Thanks for posting. But how do you know the prey was a pigeon? All I see are a bunch of feathers.
I was born to live and I live to die.
Great to see you here again. What an amazing experience. And you were lucky enough to get your camera and have the proof. I had a similar experience with a grey goshawk in my yard last week and didn't have time for the camera. I was left feeling like it could have been a dream because I am a crazy bird lady too. Mine took its bird with it
Great catch Myky....now imagine if you came home and all you found was a pile of feathers...... you would be blaming any cat within 500m!!!!!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Great shots, well done!
It's an adult female myky.
al
Cheers,
al
Central Victoria
https://sites.google.com/site/blackhillreservekyneton/home
abeleski i think Kimbolina picked up on the crest in the last photo
al might know but BOP here seem to target crested pigeons over every thing else - when i fine a pile of feathers it's generally a crested pile
al adult female collared sparrowhawk - can i ask what you see to know that & to me (someone who has on idea btw) the shape of the chest/bird looks weird and one leg looks hairier than the other which makes it look bigger
I can understand them catching the pigeons. They must be the worst flyers of all. They seem clumsy when they are in my back yard. Their landings are crash landings. My impressions anyway.
I was born to live and I live to die.
Myky, the most obvious diagnostic features
why I called this bird an adult female CSH are:
adult: plumage
female: size of prey
CSH: square-cut base & slightly notched tail,
open-eyed staring look, no heavy brow ridge
I think your images show this clearly.
In answer to your question why hawks target CPs.
Hawks, like us, prefer the meat of granivorous birds
and as abeleski already said, CPs are not the most agile.
But not all pigeons are slow.
If you have ever witnessed the explosive take-off and acceleration of the common bronzewings,
you know what I mean.
Even peregrine falcons find it extremely hard to keep up with the racing pigeons in level flight.
I took this photo of a 1st year male CSH on my property.
Cheers,
al
Central Victoria
https://sites.google.com/site/blackhillreservekyneton/home
Thanks al - appreciate the info - trying to be a poor version of you :) i have copied your info and i will study what you said
was just up the back yard now and knew there was something around by the way the birds were acting - turned out it was a hobby - boy they can more - only got 2 very poor pics in 2 fly overs
al what would be the very obvious difference in fly overs between a Hobby and a peregrine falcon
i see the black facial features and think Hobby but maybe i am wrong
i am so jealous of you and your BOP history - it would be so cool to have them close up - i get so excited just when they fly over lol
thanks again
Thx for sharing myky.