The backyard birds, chipmunks and squirrels were sounding the alarm the other day, so I figured there was a hawk in the vicinity.
I looked out several windows with binoculars and was surprised to find TWO hawks sitting just a few feet apart at the top of our neighbor’s oak tree.
Upon first glance I thought they were Cooper’s Hawks. One regularly swoops through the backyard in hopes of catching songbirds from the feeders.
But then I noticed those short tails. These birds couldn’t be Cooper’s Hawks.
No, they were Broad-winged Hawks, and I’ve never seen one before in our neighborhood.
Broad-winged Hawks migrate to South America for the winter, and they may fly more than 4,000 miles. In the fall they gather together in groups that can number in the thousands. People even travel to see them spiraling together high in the sky.
Turns out the neighborhood rodents were more in danger from these hawks than the birds. Broad-winged hawks eat mammals, reptiles and amphibians. They’ll eat birds too, but mostly nestlings and it’s too early for those around here.
If I hadn’t heard the the ruckus outside and taken a peek, I would’ve missed seeing these little raptors drop in to our neighborhood for a quick visit during migration season.