The Hawk Report for 1/31

Trying to Stay Warm

Until recently, it hasn't felt much like winter here in the Capital Region of New York.  We finally got our first major storm of the season last week.  All was quiet after the storm with the Red-shouldered Hawk pair in our backyard for about a week.  Then the activity picked up over the last few days.  Especially, the female has been spending a lot of time in our backyard.  The above picture is of her perched high up in a tree in the sun.  She is puffed up to help keep warm and it makes her look much larger.

Here is her from Monday morning.  She is doing some preening on the feathers on her back.  It's still awhile before they will start the nesting season but typically they start showing up more and more in February and March.  Maybe to reassert their territory or it might just be that they like to perch in the sun in the tall trees to stay warm.  Whatever it is, it is great to see these beautiful hawks more and more over the next few months.  

New Visitor to My Backyard

Yellow-rumped Warbler

This weekend, I had some unexpected visitors to my backyard.  I have seen these little guys at parks and reserves but never in my yard.  The Yellow-rumped Warbler or Myrtle Warbler in the East is versatile warbler.  They are able to eat a number of different things including the fruit of Bayberries and Wax Myrtles.  The wax on these fruit are undigestible for most birds.  This allows them to stay further north than most of the other warblers.  While most of the other warblers have headed south,  these guys are still around in Upstate New York.  

Yellow rump where they get their name.

My yard doesn't have a ton of fruit right now but the Yellow-rumped Warbler appears to be eating maybe ants or insects in the lawn.  My lawn took a beating this summer with the lack of rain.  I have a number of dead spots and these guys were foraging in those areas.

                                                                               Here is one forging in my lawn.  

It was fun weekend watching about 8 of these guys and hopefully they'll be back.  Happy Birding!  Have you had any unusual visitors lately in your yard?  Tell us about it in the comments or Facebook page or on Twitter.  

Look Who is Back!

Cooper's Hawk Hunting

I haven't seen much of the Red-Shouldered Hawk pair in the past few weeks.  I do hear them quite a bit back in the woods.  This is probably a call for food for the little one(s) in the nest.  While they have been busy with raising their young, the Cooper's Hawk has taken advantage and started hunting in my backyard.  

This one actually stayed long enough for me to get a shot of it.  I believe it is a female from it's rather large size.  She tried unsucessfully to catch either a chipmunk or small bird before this shot.  Then she perched above fallen tree where the lucky almost prey was able to hide from her till she flew off.  

The male Red-Shouldered Hawk hunting in my yard back in late March.

I noticed more evidence of the Cooper's Hawk hunting in my yard when I noticed a pile of Morning Dove feathers near one of the my feeders.  The Red-Shouldered Hawks haven't taken a dove that I have seen so I think it was the Cooper's Hawk work.


I guess it is the way of nature of the birds of prey.  When the Red-Shouldered Hawks aren't defending their territory, other predators like the Cooper's Hawk will encroach.   

Read More about the Two Different Hawks Here:

The Tale of the Squirrels and the Hawks

The Tale of the Squirrels and Hawks Part 2

Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey Part 2

The Happy Pair