h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A hawk flew into our garden this morning. It settled on a small fence at the back of my neighbour's garden, then flew back through our garden and away.

I've never seen a hawk at close range before, so I'm not familiar with the different types. This one was about a foot (30cm) high when perched on the fence, and was brown all over.

I think it was a kestrel or sparrowhawk, but I'm not sure.

Its nice to see the raptors coming after their major die off ofbthe middle 20th century.

A sparrowhawk is greyer, and has a distinct barred pattern on the chest.

The kestrel is obviously brown, almost golden, with a grey head and cream-coloured chest, with mottled dark pattern on the back and chest.

But you're lucky to see one up so close - amazing birds.

We used to get lots of hawks circling in North Carolina. We knew they were there the same way the birds did: squirrels set up a warning chatter and climbed into the trees for cover. Then all the birds started fussing and hid, too.

We have a lot of small birds in our yard; my father puts out seed.

Occasionally, this will bring in a hawk. We've occasionally seen them perch just outside their front window.

Even when we get a good close look, maybe even a quick photo, we have trouble differentiating specific hawk breeds. I really can't tell the difference between a Cooper's hawk, a sharp-shinned hawk, or a sed sailed hawk.

I check sites like this one: http://www.houstonaudubon.org/default.aspx/MenuItemID/525/MenuGroup/Home.htm
but it doesn't really help. There's still enough variation in hawks that I typically see markings that don't appear in any of the pics I find online.

^Red tailed, not sed sailed.

What's funny is, I read 'red tailed' anyway...

Locally, the three raptors seen most frquently are the diminiutive nighthawk, seen almost every day, immediately after dark, competing with the bats, taking insects on the wing; the turkey vulture, seen several times a year; and the red tailed hawk.

Occasionally the golden eagle is seen.

Once I had a black Mexican eagle of the kind pictured on the Mexican national flag hanging around for a couple of weeks, clomping around on the roof at night.

It sandbagged the road runner living in the front yard the morning of the second day.

The quail and other song birds promptly evacuated the area and did not return until the eagle had departed.

The diminutive nighthawk sounds charming. Perhaps it could be the companion animal of Nighthoover...

http://www.google.com/search?q=nighthawk%2C+images&oq=nighthawk%2C+images&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l3.14928j0j4&client=tablet-android-verizon&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

The white bands the night hawk has on the underside of its wings is a marking it has it common with the golden eagle, which has similar bands.

Anything that helps to keep the flying insects down is welcome.

I had a sparrowhawk in my garden last year, it stayed about 30 minutes, completely indifferent to the alarm calls in the surrounding trees. It was too busy plucking and eating the two blackbirds it had caught. My cat went into hiding under the sofa for most of the morning too. It was magnificent, scary, haughty and very elegant, although there were feathers everywhere!

It's a coincidence you mentioning it because I was reminded of that visit this very morning when the radio came on as usual just before the 6am news. Radio 4's "Tweet of the Day" was the sparrowhawk http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02tx41n Steve Backshall introduced it and said something like you'd know a sparrowhawk in the sky by the explosion of feathers.

I seem to remember when working out which raptor was in my garden there was something about the eyes that helps with identification.

When my brother was six or seven, he was sitting in the living room when a hawk or falcon flew in through the window, shattering glass all over the rug. My brother jumped, averting injury. The bird flew back out again.