I saw the larger bird on the ground as we were leaving a place. They were closing. I was out of space on my memory card, but I made some room, got three pictures, this is the only good one. Does anybody know birds, these two were acting strangely, obviously together, at least the little one was fliting around the larger one. Here are the birds.



by ginger

Hi Ginger, nice shot! I think it is some kind of hawk, but I'm only familiar with the european kind, so don't know which one.. The one in the back is definately another one and if you say they acted strange it's maybe nesting and afraid it's chicks will be lunch? The parents try to keep the big birds away from the nest by being in it's way all yhe time.
I'll keep looking..

It looks like a juvenile Swainson's Hawk and a Magpie.
Swainson's are fairly common as hawks go but any bird of prey is spectacular IMO.


Tim

Originally Posted by Shakey It looks like a juvenile Swainson's Hawk and a Magpie. Swainson's are fairly common as hawks go but any bird of prey is spectacular IMO. Tim

I think I remember that Magpies are social birds that will harrass a hawk or even an animal or human that was previously seen carrying a black object. But I might be confusing Magpies with Jackdaws.

Two nice Cow Birds dining together..

Originally Posted by ginger_55 I saw the larger bird on the ground as we were leaving a place. They were closing. I was out of space on my memory card, but I made some room, got three pictures, this is the only good one. Does anybody know birds, these two were acting strangely, obviously together, at least the little one was fliting around the larger one. Here are the birds. by ginger

I'm up in Tahoe (been doing the move thang), so I don't have my bird books, but the small bird looks like a Northern Mockingbird to me (I think they may also be known as magpies), and the hawk could be the Swainson's or a Redtail, really not positive. If the smaller bird is the mockingbird, then the hawk's a bit smallish for a Redtail.

Originally Posted by ginger_55 I saw the larger bird on the ground as we were leaving a place. They were closing. I was out of space on my memory card, but I made some room, got three pictures, this is the only good one. Does anybody know birds, these two were acting strangely, obviously together, at least the little one was fliting around the larger one. Here are the birds. by ginger

My first impulse is Osprey. Wish I could see more profile. Near saltwater, Ospreys rule. Pretty shot, tsiya