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Here are some photos I have gotten in and around Tulsa.

Fledgling Red-Shouldered Hawk in nest at Morris Park, Glenpool, OK

The adult Red-Shouldered Hawk kept and eye on me while the mate fed the brood

 

Adult Red-Tailed Hawk flying down the rail right of way on Old 51 near Keystone

A Red-Tailed Hawk leaping into flight near 76th street North and Mingo Road

 

I also have a few shots of Bald Eagles, Ospreys and other birds at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcactionphoto/sets/72157605942673674/

Thanks for looking and keep you eyes peeled.

Kevin

 

 

Cool shots!!! and Good eyes to find the red shoulder, or was it screaming at you?  I just posted on the other thread that the unidentified hawk in a park near a creek could be a juvenile red shouldered, then wasn't sure if Tulsa was beyond its eastern range, but I guess not! 

Kevin,

In my city in Kentucky I occaisionally see kestrels sitting on perches like fence poles, street lights or utility wires, bobing their heads and watching for creatures in the long un-mowed grassy areas below along the highways or grassy areas along the outlying neighborhoods. They seem less common in my area than even a few years ago, as pairs I used to see every day when I drove along the highway are no longer there. They also sometimes hover over the grass. Since they eat insects and little rodents I am sure the longer grass is much better than mowed for hunting. I saw a few perched on fencelines on a road trip through the farmland of Indiana, but I was actually surprised I did not see a lot more.

Cooper's are so fast! Rocket birds those are. I see one occaisionally in my neighborhood, it sits in my maple tree and hunts at my bird feeder (why do they seem to like the prettiest birds?)  They are extremely common in our city neighborhoods and even downtown where there are so many starlings/pigeons and the city has these little block-sized treed park-like areas for them to roost. Cooper's are being blamed for the decline of the area kestrels as they prey on the fledglings. If you hang out in a park where there are songbirds and wait long enough I can't imagine you wouldn't see one at least fly by.  Hard to spot inside a tree, they hide well, and I've never seen one perched out on a branch in the open.

good luck.

Catbird needs our support today.  She had to put her 18-1/2 yr. old cat, Tigger, to sleep yesterday.  I sincerely hope I haven't intruded on her privacy.   We all know the pain this brings.  We are with you today, catbird.  I know you will feel the love from all of us.

( I should have put this in the pet thread, but I felt it was too far down, sorry)

Catbird, so sorry to hear about your precious kitty. I've lost two the past two years and it is hard to lose an old friend. I am fortuante to have one old kitty  and recently adopted a 3 year old calico from an elderly woman who was devastated when she couldn't take her kitty to her new retirement home. I hope you have good memories of Tigger.

Thoughts are with you!!!

Hugs

sallyls:

I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of copying your first message about catgirl's loss into the "Pets" thread. Thanks for the message, so that we can all pull for her.
-socal

p.s. Anytime you post a message on a thread, it moves it to the top.

Kcactionphoto/Kevin: It is so neat how this little Tulsa Hawk Forum of ours keeps drawing in those with knowlege to share with us! Can you list for us the varieties of hawks that would be populating the Tulsa area? My redtail myopia needs expanding, I think. I think hawk and I think (only) redtail. Not! Those kites are astonishingly lovely! And the other hawks you posted are stunning. The pair on the branch. Wow. What color (if any distinctive) are their tails?


Sallyls: Thank you for the perspective on the hawk on the roof photo that Catgirl took. Literally, perspective - smaller hawk, makes prey in her talons look larger.

Does anybody know anything about hummingbirds? This little cutie was in my backyard today for the longest time...Could it be a juvenile? It seemed a little scruffy headed and had some fluffy white on its lower front... like the fluff on a baby bird.

Sorry, I don't have an awesome camera like others on this forum... Just a little Canon PowerShot A550 AiAf
There are three other pics of this "kid" on my Flickr page

Not sure on the hummer, there are over a dozen different species with plumage variatiosn on top of that.

Our local birds of prey should include...

Buteos (Buzzard Hawks): Red-Tail Hawks, Goshawks and Red-Shouldered Hawks

Accipiters (Bird Hawks): Sharp-Shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk and Swainson's Hawk

Falcons: Peregrine Falcon, American Kestrel, and Prairie Falcon

Harriers: Northern Harrier (not sure but I think Kites fall into this group as well)

Eagles: Bald Eagle (migratory) and Osprey (migratory). Some Bald Eagles do stay here all year. There is one resident at Lake Yahola and a pair with fledglings out at the Jones Airport area in Jenks.

Since Tulsa is an Urban Forest, our city has a ton of habitat and cover for thousands of insects. These insects draw birds and mammals to eat them, this in turn provides a food source for apex predators like hawks. Most cities do not have our excess of exotic appearing predatory birds.

I believe all of the rural animals are moving to the city!! LOL!!

 

Socal that is a good picture. On your flickr ypu can see the larger size and it is very clear. (clearer than my humming birds I have been trying to get a picture of!)

 I tried to look it up for you but never got a name for the picture I saw. I did find this list of what humming birds are in each state and it gives a picture plus in depth details of each one.

Hope you find out! That one looks big compared to the ones I have! LOL!!

Kevin, thank you so much for this list. I have copied it and printed it out. Indeed, it does look like Tulsa has the perfect "urban forest" for these magnificent birds! And with so many of them recovering from the DDT days which decimated bird populations, they are, many of them, apparently actually running out of room in rurual areas, and finding a warm welcome, right there in Tulsa. I hope so much that we find that many of them find sufficient prey to stay year 'round.

I pulled these from my Peterson Mini Field Guide. I have a much larger compendium of all North American birds at home. There are probably 10 more hawks and eagles out there. Some that are not in our area, some that are and are very similar to other species.

Here is a more complete list from NWFs Field Guide to Birds of North America. These are all birds that are known to inhabit or visit Oklahoma. Oklahoma is on the edge of some birds range.

Red-Tailed Hawk: 22" long, 50" wingspan. All habitats in NA. Feeds on birds, snakes and rodents.

Red-Shouldered Hawk: 17" long, 40" wingspan. Woodlands near water. Feeds on birds, snakes and rodents.

Swainson's Hawk: 21" long, 52" wingspan. Grasslands and prairies. Feeds on insects and rodents.

Cooper's Hawk: 17" long, 33" wingspan. Forest. Feed on small birds, expert at attacking bird feeders.

Sharp-Shinned Hawk: 12" long, 24" wingspan. Forest. Smaller version of Cooper's Hawk.

Broad-Winged Hawk: 15" long, 35" wingspan. Woodlands near water. Feeds on birds.

Northern Harrier: 20" long, 42" wingspan. Found in prairies, farm fields, and open marshes. Expert mousers.

Mississippi Kite: 14 1/2" long, 35" wingspan. Found in prairies and farm fields. Feeds on large flying insects like dragonflies.

American Kestrel: 10 1/2" tall, 23" wingspan. Open habitats with plentiful perches. This bird is brightly colored with salmon, blue and rust red feathers and is sure to mistaken for a large songbird. Feeds on snakes, birds, bats, insects and rodents.

Merlin: 12" long, 25" wingspan. Found in forests and urban areas. Feed on birds and insects. Like small falcon.

Peregrine Falcon: 18" long, 40" wingspan. All habitats in NA. Feed on birds. Falcons have been clocked as fast as 180 mph in dives after prey. Have been known to attack and kill other birds of prey to defend territories.

Prairie Falcon: 17 1/2" long, 39" wingspan. Grasslands. Feed on birds and rodents.

Migratories to Oklahoma...

Bald Eagle: migratory in winter from Great Lakes, 34" tall, 80" wingspan. Found at lakes and rivers during winter. Feeds on fish and waterfowl.

Osprey: migratory in fall and spring from Great Lakes on way to Gulf of Mexico, 23" long, 64" wingspan. Found at lakes and rivers. Feeds on fish. Indians called them fish-eagles.

Rough-Legged Hawk: migratory in winter from Canada, 21" long, 53" wingspan. Feeds on rodents.

 

All of these birds do and have made Tulsa's urban forest their home. Our abundance of trees, snakes, rodents and fish make eastern Oklahoma a very easy place for any of these apex predators to find a home.

Thank you. This is like a Christmas List! Full of all sorts of treasures. I had no idea there was such variety in Oklahoma. Have you ever gotten a photo of a merlin? All these wonderful migratory birds coming through as well. Oklahoma is not on the Mississippi flyway, is it? or is it part of another migratory flyway?

On Donna's blog post for Thursday, Blakeman speaks about that knobby fist posture of hawks, and about RTs and snakes. And there are some of our catgirl's photos of Jay trying to keep cool in the 100 degree heat. Also an update on the condors and the California fires.