More goshawks

It's something of a privilege to have the quail that congregate around here being hunted by a goshawk (the photo below is a juvenile).

You might remember last year, we had a mystery hawk trying to catch a quail off our back deck.

After consulting with an assistant professor at Washington State University in Pullman, we determined the bird was a juvenile goshawk. (The markings on the tail were the defining feature.)

This was exciting news, at least to me. While goshawks are considered of "least concern" in conservation status, they're not commonly seen ... at least not off our back deck.

This week, the usual explosion of quail and doves away from the feeder and into protective brush made me glance out the window in time to see a flash of predator fly by. I grabbed the camera, but by the time the bird landed, it was perched on top of a distant pole on a neighbor's property.

By cropping and enhancing the photo, even from such a distance, I was able to confirm it was an adult goshawk, with the characteristic facial markings.

Here's a professional photo from Pixabay:

Then yesterday, while Don and I were walking Mr. Darcy, we saw a scattering of fine underfeathers from a dove-gray bird, likely the remains of a ring-necked turtledove that are common around here.

So it seems our local goshawk is eating well. By feeding the birds, I like to think we're doing our part to keep the local goshawk population fed as well.

Quail central

Since I've started filling the bird feeder on our deck (I feed only over the winter), we've become "quail central."

The greedy things will literally climb over each other, gobbling the seeds.

California quail are handsome birds. They're also very wary, keeping a watchful eye out for predators. We have goshawks around here (see here and here), and those aerial predators will make an occasional foray nearby – once, one actually swooped through the porch! – so I can't blame the quail for being cautious. (The faint green lights you see on the photo below are reflections of our Christmas tree lights.)

Do you see the reddish-brown smear in the upper-left corner of the photo below? It's a goshawk juuuust flying away from a tree opposite our porch. If I'd snapped the photo half a second sooner, the whole bird would be visible.

(Here's a photo of a juvenile goshawk I took last year.)

Interestingly, one of the quails' favorite hangouts is a pile of brush we piled nearby, waiting for the chipper. The quail have adopted it as a refuge.

At all hours of the day, you can see the birds hanging around, inside and outside.

I can't blame them. It offers superb protection against predators of both land and sky.

Still, the quail are not completely dependent on the brush pile. They will often congregate across the road in some blackberry brambles, which offers – arguably – even better protection against predators, since the brambles have thorns.

I often see coveys of quail on the road exceeding four or five dozen, more than will fit in any one photograph.

No wonder the goshawks are hanging around. The bird feeder isn't just supplying food for the quail. It's also supplying food for the goshawks. Win-win.

Mystery solved: It's a goshawk!

In response to yesterday's post featuring our mystery juvenile hawk, the question came down to whether the bird was an immature goshawk or an immature Cooper's hawk. Both look extremely similar.

A goshawk, because of its rarity, seemed unlikely. Yet the markings didn't quite fit with a juvy Cooper's hawk. So ... I reached out to some experts.

I sent emails to a few regional universities and requested the assistance of some ornithology experts. I heard back from a Dr. Daniela Monk, Assistant Clinical Professor, School of Biological Sciences, at Washington State University in Pullman.

She wrote: "Yes, please send the pictures and I will try to help ID your bird. Juvenile Goshawks and juvenile Cooper’s Hawks are very similar and often difficult to distinguish. That said, Goshawk juveniles usually have a lighter line above the eye, they also have barring on the tail that is more wavy. Goshawks are not often seen, but they do occur in your area. In addition, juvenile birds do venture into areas where adults might not go."

I replied: "It was the white line above the eye that made me lean toward a juvy goshawk." – and I sent her the photos I posted on the blog.

She replied: "Beautiful photos, thank you for sharing them. I think you are correct in thinking your bird is a juvenile Goshawk. I have attached two slides that describe the difference in tail patterning of juvenile Cooper’s versus Goshawk (the pictures on the slides are from an e-course on raptors by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology). Your bird clearly shows the jagged dark markings on the tail that are characteristic of juvenile Goshawks. Wishing you many more happy bird encounters."

Here are the slides she sent:

Now here's the photo of my bird's tail.

Not only are the dark tail bands jagged, but (if you look closely or enlarge the photo) they're outlined in white.

On juvy Cooper's hawks, the tail bars are straight and do not have the thin white outline.

Below is the juvy goshawk tail:

Here's a close-up of my bird's tail:
 

Mystery solved: It's a goshawk! What a thrill to have such a rare bird chasing quail off our back deck ... although I doubt the quail care what kind of hawk is trying to eat them.

Quail danger

We get a lot of quail at the bird feeder.

Sometimes we get so many that they're literally climbing on top each other, the greedy things.

But once in a while, the quail will explode off the porch in panic. Those that don't evacuate instantly will freeze into immobility. Sometimes I catch the source of this mad scramble in the form of a hawk flashing by, but it was always too fast to identify what kind of hawk it was.

Yesterday I came around the corner of the porch and startled one quail who had been cowering under our porch rocker. The bird made a mad dash for the cover of some blackberry brambles across the road, screaming in terror because the hawk was on her tail.

The hawk landed on the road in front of the blackberry bushes, frustrated that its prey was now out of reach.

Then it hopped onto a post and posed for a long time. Doubtless the quail were cowering in fear in the bushes.

The hawk hopped to another post while I kept photographing it.

Later, after I downloaded the photos, I tried to figure out what kind of hawk it was. And here's the thing: I couldn't decide. It was like a generic "McHawk" with few identifying characteristics. One thing is clear, it was a juvenile of some kind. But the juveniles of many hawks look virtually identical.

The most distinguishing feature of the bird was the white band above its eyes.

For this reason, at first I was inclined to think it was a juvenile red-tailed hawk, which are common around here.

However juvenile red-tail hawks have a buff breast, which this bird conspicuously did not.

The closest match I could find was a juvenile goshawk.

However these are far less common, and I can't imagine they're hunting in our backyard. Or are they?

Bottom line, I have no idea what periodically swoops through and terrifies the quail. Swainson's hawk, perhaps? (Though in viewing Google Images, it doesn't seem likely.) Does anyone know?

Staying alert

It's helpful to know every bump, every crevice, every tree in our little corner of the world. It means we can be alert to any changes.

Consider the scene below:

It was easy to spot what was different.

I'm sure the hawk was being alert too, but it was also busy preening itself, which was actually rather cute.