northeast-flora-and-fauna

It's almost like this Red-tailed Hawk wanted to avoid a misidentification so its prominently displaying its red [1] tail. Since I'm pretty confident that birds don't really care what we identify them as, I'm assuming this positioning was a prerequisite to a good tail-preening session. Still, when people can't see that iconic red tail [2], misidentifications can run wild. The most over-enthusiastic people will claim to have seen an eagle, and I have to admit that a Golden Eagle does look a bit like a very big Red-tailed Hawk [3]. Probably the only thing that prevents more widespread misidentification is that the Red-tailed Hawk is quite a bit more common than our other hawks, like Red-shouldered Hawks , Cooper's Hawks , and Northern Harriers . May 13, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 282423074, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] Yeah, I know, it's more of a burnt orange tail than a red one, but people used to refer to colors differently . [2] Techn...

I have to admit that I didn't recognize who this was at 1st. (I don't see a lot of Red-shouldered Hawks , and iNaturalist says they're critically imperiled in New Jersey.) The thin even stripes on the breast/belly reminded me of our accipiters , our Cooper's Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk , but their heads would have more color and their tails wouldn't have white stripes. Instead it turned out to be the buteo that resembles an accipiter. Though this is considered of our most vocal hawks (listen to its soothing music stylings here ), this 1 wasn't talking. Perhaps because it had its mouth full; it was clearly tearing apart and eating some small animal. This was taken adjacent to a canal, so frogs, small turtles, snakes, squirrels, rabbits, muskrats, and any number of small birds could have been its victim. Though some old-time birders considered Red-shouldered Hawks and Red-tailed Hawks to be arch enemies that wouldn't share a habitat, the Red-shouldered Hawk...

Here's a Blue Jay I met a couple months ago. Though these guys abundance, vivid color, and noisiness make Blue Jays one of the easiest birds to spot, I don't really get a lot of pictures of them. As corvids, they're probably smart enough to be leery of humans, and tend to move around quite a bit making it harder to focus a camera. This picture came out pretty good though. Blue Jays aren't versatile mimics - they're unlikely to imitate other passerines - but they are considered to do an excellent imitation of at least 2 birds: Red-tailed Hawks and Red-shouldered Hawks . It's possible they developed this as a warning call, though they might use it to scare other birds away from a good food source too. Certainly this call will get the attention of most birds (and birdwatchers) in the area. I talk a lot about species that exhibit sexual dimorphism , where color or size easily distinguish the males from the females. Blue Jays are a good example of the opposite, mon...

Here's a Blue Jay doing one of the things they do best: squawking.  Loud and bossy, these corvids (they're relatives of the crows) are commonly seen throughout the year here in New Jersey. Though they're known to prey on smaller birds, they actually eat mostly insects and acorns/nuts. And while I don't know if they fool any hawks, Blue Jays are known for their ability to mimic the cries of Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks. (One possibility is that making these calls can really clear out a bird feeder, leaving the food for the Blue Jays.) April 30, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 128320545, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)