rlp

General note: In aim to keep on-topic, I've moved the question of deterring the bird to a non-ID forum thread.

Yes, the rough-legged had also been a consideration. Thank you for this information as well.

Thank you for the information.

How would one go about deterring a red-tailed hawk from predating in a residential setting? Specifically, the area is suburban -- houses, a play area, a small park. The bird seemed brazen, unafraid of humans, and a threat not only to small native animals but possibly small dogs (even a dog being walked on a leash). There are areas more wild not far off; it seemed this bird thought the location was extremely easy and without any type of potential danger (fox, pack of coyote, e.g.) due to the area's humanized nature. Advice, please?

Thank you. Merlin's photographic exemplars (and a few others) seemed mostly to have markings or colour on the breast (except for a juvenile Borealis in Massachusetts), which seemed lacking with this one. -- An example of how one factor can leave me doubting my best efforts. Your swift response and brief explanation are appreciated.

Hello, bird lovers. i hope no one is offended by my more pro-mammal stance in this instance. Who is this feathered monster that terrorized my small animal family and attempted to murderously abduct one of my dear loved ones? Merlin, by photo, gave (depending on image and separate attempt): golden eagle; red-tailed hawk; red-shouldered hawk; matches less likely (due to location), included white-tailed eagle, greater spotted eagle, himalayan griffon. By input of information, Merlin said likely red-tailed or cooper's hawk. Searching here, i seem to tend to get pictures that resemble more (to me) birds who live far away, or birds that match except for some feature that bothers me by not matching. Red-tailed and Cooper's hawks both were among results (but so was a bald eagle). Suburban park and residential setting. Maple trees, a few others, line of thin conifer. Unafraid of humans. Seemed about to go for a small dog (on a leash, walking with a human) when their other brazen attempted abduction was thwarted. New York State, western region. On or around 3 december 2020, before sundown. Tips, advice, suggestions on protecting my small mammal family from such bird deeply and greatly appreciated (keeping in mind the area is not 'my property', per se).

apologies, i neglected to say in the first response (and apparently can't edit?): thank you for noting the demeanour and behaviour, and for confirming based on that, as well. it can be difficult to describe / understand descriptions of such (for instance, when reading a book or static website); it's good to have confirmation by someone who is so familiar with their kind.

all out of likes, but wanted to chime in with appreciation for this thread, and to share that we've identified northern flickers today, too. i think this might be the first post I've been pretty sure of the identification, and the first I've thought i might know without consulting searches, etc.. thank you for posting a bird I've recently learned.

[speaking to the question of links / photos, to add to what's already been said, with which i generally agree: I've found that clicking some photo links, on my device, posted to this site, disrupts functionality sometimes. this might occur for others, as well. it's especially lovely, i feel, to add the photos direct, when they are such good photos.]

I'm sorry you can't see it. it's still playing in the original post for me. is there anyone tech savvy on whom we may call for assistance?

thank you for the additional information. it's interesting to hear these supplemental facts, in addition to the main matters of the birds at hand.

yes, thank you. agreed, location is very useful. it was omitted intentionally this time, as the differences between 'our birds' and the reference pictures we'd seen had us wondering if maybe someone was quite out of their typical range that day. (it is 2020, after all; i wouldn't be surprised to be find moonbirds from mars in a nearby puddle, at this point). it seemed the lovely, knowledgeable people of this forum would be able to solve the mystery. {apparently, the differences are due age -- the various forms of the same bird are sometimes so vastly different to me, or seemingly so subtle, that I'm often baffled one this account.} it's interesting to learn that the neotropic may be so much more common toward the southwest u.s.; thank you for the additional information.

thank you for the wonderful resource. some of these pictures look much more like the birds we saw that day than the reference pictures we had met with (primarily, all quite black, for instance). initially, we were disuaded from confident identification by differences we have since figured are due to their being juvenile, as you suggest. lacking the obvious crest, and having a colour more grey than black, along with what appeared to be the lighter throat area as you have also noted, gave us some pause. the maps I've consulted pretty much all say double-crested for the region, so it was a bit confusing for a little while.

how fortunate to have them so nearby. this was the first time we recall encountering them, and quite a surprise at the time.

thank you for responding and confirming cormorant. we've been unsure of which specific bird; double-crested is definitely one of our possibilities, and might be the one to which we are leaning.