I want my money back!!! or What is wrong with this picture?

Last year I had owl problems, so I bought a pastic owl. That didnt work well.
I bought a plastic falcon and that worked much better, but we had one very weird hawk that still took more than a few meals.
This year I went all out and bought a bobblehead owl. The head moves with the breeze, it looks Super real!

I want my money back......

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So this is the same hawk. I dont know what kind he is other than Weird He is not afraid of people. He will run along the ground, he stands outside the chick pens and waits for them to pop out thier heads (stupid chicks).

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He has zero interest in the duck, adult chickens or guineafowl (who now IGNORE him!) and Bun Bun thinks he is just another farm critter friend. Note the location of the pens, the chicks, the plastic bobblehead owl , Bunbun and the hawk. The guineafowl are just behind the coop part of the little tractor.....

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Does anyone know what kind of hawk this is?

I would ask Steven, Vivian or Holly they are all bird nuts...

this birds actions remind me of one that was maybe raised by humans or at least dealt with by humans at some point in his life. For him to not be scared of humans means he has had contact at some point. Good luck keeping him from eating his beautiful lunches you are providing!!

Googling has led me to Prairie Falcon. But the tail coour is not right and the face looks a little different.
I think he is a release bird. He will also take dead chicks that we put out for him. I do have to watch him around the Silkies as they are the right size for his meals. He shows no interest in anything bigger than a silkie.

He does the weirdest things. He plucked off the survey tape I had accross the top of the silie pen. It was about 8 to 10 inches apart. He went in anyway and then later started plucking the tape off to open more space. He also perches sidewas on wide fencing and will slip in the smallest hole!

We are not going to chase him off. I am pretty sure I saw him with another harassing a red tail hawk in the trees beside the coop pasture. I am just going to have to be more careful with the birds. I ahve put harware mesh on the outside of my little tractors.

He/she could have been released from a Wildlife refuge, for sure it is a Prairie Falcon and probably a young one so not quite coloured as an adult yet.
Will eat gophers and small rabbits as well.
Looks like he has made himself right at home. Great pictures Arctic, shows how tame he is.

A BIRD NUT,
Vivian

I think it is the same bird as last year. This year we cant get quite as close. Last year we could get to really close, about 10 feet away depsnding on what he was doing.

Have you ever considered the career of falconer?

Hmmmmm, I hear that brinseas are good for hatching raptors......

We are now debating it being a Prairie Falcon (less likely) or a Broad winged hawk (not likely) or a sharp shinned hawk (possibly).

The tail is LONG and narrow and has very defined broad clear bands of brown and dark brown.

Ok, now we are thinking coopers....
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northern goshawk

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Says it shouldn't be out your way, but it sure looks like what you have. As soon as I saw the picture I thought goshawk.

Immature:

Yellow eye
Brown head with bold white supercilium
Brown back and upperwings
White belly boldly streaked with black to undertail coverts
Tail, brown above and pale below, marked by jagged bars edged narrowly in whit
Similar species:
Adults unmistakable when seen well; at a distance, Goshawks distinctively combine the large size of a buteo and the broad-winged, long-tailed shape and quick wingbeats of accipiters. Immature Northern Goshawks are similar in shape and patterning to immature Cooper's, but are much larger, with proportionately shorter tails, bulkier bodies and thicker black streaking extending all the way to the undertail coverts. Sharp-shinned Hawks are typically much smaller, with shorter, squared-off tails and shorter heads that do not project as far when flying. Immature Red-shouldered Hawk has pale crescents in the wing and a shorter tail.

I think it is very COOL! and would be happy to have him around. What is he|she targeting for prey?

I know they are a poultry threat, but still, VERY cool. If you can keep him away from your own birds, would he have protective instincts, driving other birds away, if he considered your place his home? Might be handy, in a twisted way.Having a chicken eater protect your chickens, and then try to eat them!

I had a collared sparrow hawk come right into my coop in Australia and eat a Light Sussex cockerel. It could not find it's way out of the coop and I had to trap it in a horse blanket and then let it go. Was actually very scary!
When I released it, it and its mate stayed close by, nested in a tree I could see from the house and left all my chickens alone. It, or its mate would follow me to the coop most days and hunt the wild birds that would scatter when I went out to collect eggs. I grew very fond of them and they never hunted my chickens after that. I found that very interesting.

I hope you can find a relationship with them. I dont like things that kill my chooks but I really do admire a impressive bird of prey.

You should start hatching this new type of chicken of yours. They look like they'd be good for fighting.

Yup, definetly not a prarie falcon, they are much smaller. One of the best ways to ID birds of prey is to look at it from the underside while its flying. He's definitly an Accipiter "class" hawk. (Sharp shined, Goshawk ect.) Another thing to help you narrow it down is traditional ranges.

Upon doing some searching, there are many observations of Prairie Falcons killing owls. I wonder if your decoy lured it in.

have the bird book right beside me and it looks like it is Prairie Falcon.
a week ago i had a sharp shinned hawk get in to my COVERED run through a very small hole and kill my old aduit turkey hen that was bind in one eye!

I can't make a comment because my image would be blown all to blazes, smiling. All I can say is that I am so thankful that we do not have hawks that haunt us around here. never yet to see one. The only thing that comes close is the nest of Ospreys on the huge pole way across the other side of the field. But I think they are off in the river fishing, they haven't bothered my chickens or chicks, ever, knock on wood. We have eagles about 4 km away from us, they must be territorial though because I haven't seen them around here either. Guess we are fortunate in that way. Interesting to hear the tales of the birds, birds are just awesome and all have their place on the earth. have a most wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Hmmm....some have said Coopers Hawk. It does look alot like the ones here:
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Sounds like the habitat is more like where a Coopers would live too.

Apparently Cooper's Hawks go for owls too.

Looks like your culprit!

They are feisty little buggars aren't they!? Certainly don't mind taking on something bigger than themselves.

I like how when the noise and flying around didn't work, he tried the stare down.

these guys were here last year, and they didnt care about the plastic owl back then either.

The video is hillarious!
My guy is a little different, but it could be him.

I contacted Myrna Pearman of the Ellis Blue Bird Farm and she is thinking Goshawk, and Arctic, she would love to come photograph this guy/gal..

Well she is more than welcome to come out. I will start paying more attention as to when he is showing up. Last year he was pretty reliable, every afternoon and again in the early evening. If we start seeing him regularly then I will let everyone know!
s

Fascinating pictures and story - just hope you can keep your other feathered friends safe!