hawk or owl

There are lots and lots of different kinds of hawks and owls. How big was the bird in relation to a more familiar bird, like a robin? What color(s) was it? Did it have a rounded head, or a crest, or look like it had little horns, or something else? Did you notice beak color and shape. Did you see it fly at all? Did you see it during the day or at night? In what context (e. g. a barn, a rooftop, a tree branch, near a body of water, etc.)?

You don't need to know the answers to every single one of these questions, but these are the kinds of inquiries that birders make of each other when trying to make an identification.

Also -- where are you (you don't have to give a street address, just, something like the city of St. Louis, or 10 miles South of Tulsa or whatever. Birds have varying habitats and ranges, and those tend to change over the winter months (heck, it could even be summer where you are, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere) so that also provides some valuable clues that lead to a firmer identification.

a reply
The hawk was about sixteen to twenty inches when perched on my wood pile. Ut caught a sparrow in midflight and then tore it to pieces while eating it. It had a face that resembeled an owl. I'm in michigan surrounded by wetlands It was brown with a white outline on its wings, and black dots

Hmm, this guy? http://homepage.mac.com/wildlifeweb/bird/spectacled_owl/spectacled_owl.html That's a spectacled owl.

That site (http://homepage.mac.com/wildlifeweb/gallery.html#Birds ) has other bird pics that might be of help, at least to narrow it down. Also, this is a link to Project Feeder Watch which might also help: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Members/PhotoGallery02/BirdsofPrey02.htm

Just came across entry and it occurred to me this could be the noethern hawk owl could be what you saw.

http://www.greglasley.net/nhawkowl.html

Thank you bobsmythhawk. That is the closest picture, of the hawk I saw, yet. Since my initial post, I've had two more hawks in my back, but, they were redtails. What is your avatar?

Generally speaking, if it was on your woodpile during the day, it was a hawk. Hawks and owls, like chickens (at least I think so) all have fourteen cervical verterbrae, while mammals all have only seven. That explains how they can all turn their heads so far around.

My avatar's a goshawk. I catch and band hawks in my spare time for US Fish and Wildlife. I'm a volunteer and this is my 38th year.

What procedure do you use for catching hawks, bob?

Hi gus:

My pal Mike and I set up for banding in late August and will generally band until the middle of November. We use mist nets and bow traps. Operating from a blind we try to lure the hawk into a mist net using a tethered pigeon as bait. Assuming it bypasses the net and tries to strike we attempt to trip the bow trap to cast a net over it. Once we have it in hand a numbered leg band supplied by US Fish and Wildlife is affixed. The bird is measurd and examined for injuries or parasites and then released. An entry is made in a journal and a monthly report sent to Washington
D.C.