Their prey is mammals and frogs or snakes. They tend to be seen near wet forests hunting along a stream or pond. The Red-shouldered Hawk can be found all year in Virginia. They lay 2-6 pale blue to bluish-white eggs. They feed on medium-sized birds and small mammals and nest in tall trees, often on top of an old nest of a large bird or clump of mistletoe. They have a larger head that projects well beyond the wings, unlike the Sharp-shinned Hawk. They can be hard to identify between them as they have the same blue-gray back and red-orange breast and also with dark bands on the tail. The Cooper’s Hawk looks very similar to the Sharp-shinned Hawk but is bigger at about the size of a crow. Look out for them at the edge of forests, but they can also be seen at feeders looking for an easy meal. They have been sighted in 4% of checklists in Virginia. They are more common woodland hawks than the Sharp-shinned Hawk. Cooper’s HawkĬooper’s Hawks can be seen all year round in the northwest of Virginia and in the southeast of Virginia. They lay 3-8 white or pale-blue mottled eggs. The nest is quite large being 1-2 feet in diameter and 4-6 inches deep. Nests of the Sharp-shinned Hawk are often in conifer trees in dense cover, usually towards the top of tall trees. They usually eat songbirds about the size of a robin. Sharp-shinned Hawks pluck their prey on a stump or low branch before eating it. They can sometimes be seen near feeders catching small birds, but if you have problems with them in your backyard remove the feeder for a few weeks. They are very agile and can speed through dense woods to catch their prey in flight, usually songbirds. They are very secretive but can be seen as they fly across open areas at the edges of forests. They have long tails, with a square end, and short, rounded wings and have small heads.Īdult Sharp-shinned Hawks are blue-gray across the back and have a red-orange breast. The females are a third bigger than the male. They are smaller than a crow but slightly larger than a Jay. The Sharp-shinned Hawk is the smallest hawk in Virginia. They are not very common and are in less than 3% of bird sightings in Virginia. Sharp-shinned HawkĪlthough highly migratory, the Sharp-shinned Hawk can be seen all year in northwest Virginia and in winter in southeast Virginia. Backyard Birds in Virginia – with free ID printable.Why don’t you also check out all the backyard birds in Virginia and get a free ID printable checklist? If you enjoy finding out about birds of prey in Virginia then you should check out all the eagles and vultures you can spot here. To find Hawks in Virginia head to woodland for the smaller hawks such as the Sharp-shinned Hawk and Cooper’s Hawk or open grassland, marshes, or high ridges for the larger species. Hawks can see in ultraviolet light, which helps them hunt down their prey. Hawks are birds of prey and hunt and eat birds and small mammals as well as snakes and frogs. Did you know the largest hawks in Virginia are the Rough-legged Hawk and the smallest hawks in Virginia are the Sharp-shinned Hawk? The most common hawks in Virginia are the Red-tailed Hawk.
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