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Posted: 2/7/2009 6:53:34 AM EDT
[#1]
Perigrine Falcon?
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Posted: 2/7/2009 6:59:15 AM EDT
[#2]
Thats kind of what I was thinking, but didnt think there were any in Texas ? Next time, ill get my binoculars out to get a closer look.
I will try to get some photos, but I dont have a camera with a telephoto lens. |
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Posted: 2/7/2009 7:01:28 AM EDT
[#3]
watch this video of a falcon in flight
notice the tail feathers. This is exactly the shape of the tail feathers on the bird I saw. There have been a few times Ive come home to see this same bird take off from a perch under the eve of my house. It took off so fast, I couldnt get a good look at it except the wing profile and how it flew. |
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Posted: 2/7/2009 7:15:13 AM EDT
[#4]
Quoted: Thats kind of what I was thinking, but didnt think there were any in Texas ? Next time, ill get my binoculars out to get a closer look. I will try to get some photos, but I dont have a camera with a telephoto lens. I see them all of the time just north of you around Lake Texoma. I almost got a good picture of a bald eagle out there a few weeks ago through my rifle scope with my phone but it's hard as hell to keep a scope focused on something and try to line up your phone and take a picture of something a couple hundred yards away all off the side of the bed of your truck in a big wind.  |
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Posted: 2/7/2009 7:40:39 AM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
Thats kind of what I was thinking, but didnt think there were any in Texas ? Next time, ill get my binoculars out to get a closer look. I will try to get some photos, but I dont have a camera with a telephoto lens. Break out a shotgun and shoot the damn thing. Take a picture of it, and we will identify it. Shotguns are cheaper and more practical than telephoto lenses anyway. FWIW this is the best method of bird identification available. I have used it on bald eagles, spotted owls, peregrine falcons, and other endangered species. It doesn't work well on things like snail darters and pupfish, because all it leaves is a hole in the mud. 
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Posted: 2/7/2009 7:44:02 AM EDT
[#6]
Quoted:
I know what a redtail hawk looks like and this is NOT one. It has a relatively "narrow" wing profile, seems smaller than a redtail hawk. It swoops and dives. It has rather long, straight tail feathers. Color is dark-ish. Im tempted to say a falcon of some sort. It is also NOT a sparrow hawk, because those are about the size of a bluejay or slightly larger. This hawk is bigger, maybe the size of a large crow. I started looking around at pictures, at first thinking it might be a harris hawk, but the tail feathers arent right. This bird has the tail feathers of a falcon - long and straight when in flight. Ive seen sparrow hawks in flight and "hovering" and it acts very similar. Maybe a sparrow hawk? |
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Posted: 2/7/2009 8:15:12 AM EDT
[#7]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Thats kind of what I was thinking, but didnt think there were any in Texas ? Next time, ill get my binoculars out to get a closer look. I will try to get some photos, but I dont have a camera with a telephoto lens. I see them all of the time just north of you around Lake Texoma. I almost got a good picture of a bald eagle out there a few weeks ago through my rifle scope with my phone but it's hard as hell to keep a scope focused on something and try to line up your phone and take a picture of something a couple hundred yards away all off the side of the bed of your truck in a big wind.
Hmmm, you've shot bald eagles huh ? 
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Posted: 2/7/2009 8:16:10 AM EDT
[#8]
Quoted:
Quoted:
I know what a redtail hawk looks like and this is NOT one. It has a relatively "narrow" wing profile, seems smaller than a redtail hawk. It swoops and dives. It has rather long, straight tail feathers. Color is dark-ish. Im tempted to say a falcon of some sort. It is also NOT a sparrow hawk, because those are about the size of a bluejay or slightly larger. This hawk is bigger, maybe the size of a large crow. I started looking around at pictures, at first thinking it might be a harris hawk, but the tail feathers arent right. This bird has the tail feathers of a falcon - long and straight when in flight. Ive seen sparrow hawks in flight and "hovering" and it acts very similar. Maybe a sparrow hawk? Nope, sparrow hawks (kestrel) are about the size of a robin or bluejay. This bird was much larger. |
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Posted: 2/7/2009 12:23:07 PM EDT
[#9]
Cooper's Hawk?
They're maybe a bit bigger than a crow and like to eat pigeons. |
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Posted: 2/7/2009 1:33:31 PM EDT
[#10]
We have tons of Falcons up and around Brenham and College Station. They hangout on the power lines overlooking the fields.
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Posted: 2/7/2009 2:06:01 PM EDT
[#11]
Quoted:
Cooper's Hawk? They're maybe a bit bigger than a crow and like to eat pigeons. Looking at the pics of a coopers hawk, I think we have a winner! That is the tail alright. 
in flight 
front view ( I recognize the brown feathers) 
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Posted: 2/7/2009 2:34:09 PM EDT
[#12]
highjack thread time........I have/view a pair of Hawks in west Houston/Katy that are large bodied birds...like a hawk rather than a falcon and have large white splotches/spots on both wings and on the tail. The white area is very large/pronounced on the wings and tail. I have been meening to look it up on the net for some time...but since we have the bird experts primed? Any body know the species? I am familiar with red-tailed hawks having keep them as a child...not these.
Mark |
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Posted: 2/7/2009 3:00:47 PM EDT
[#13]
Quoted: Hmmm, you've shot bald eagles huh ? No, I actually thought it was buzzard sitting on a dead cow on the edge of the water but when I looked to see what it was I realized it was a bald eagle sitting on a tree stump maybe eating something. Since I was already there I just tried to take a picture. Either way, I wasn't going to shoot it, just taking a look. |
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Posted: 2/7/2009 5:57:15 PM EDT
[#14]
What I normally see here in Wise County is called a Mississippi Kite. Smaller than a Red Tail, larger than a peregrine. Make a cool call, too. These are extremely common and are often mistaken for hawks.
LD |
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Posted: 2/8/2009 6:19:21 AM EDT
[#15]
Thanks, men!
great question and GREAT pics! this old gray-head learned a lot! |
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