Left the nest too soon

[Redetotry]

We had hawks build a nest in a big oak tree next to our driveway last year. They returned this year and this little one fell from the nest a little too early. I called a woman who runs a wildlife rescue place and she came & caught the baby. Her son tied a basket to another tree and put him in it. When I came in awhile ago he was sitting on the edge of the basket looking like he was deciding whether or not to try again. He is too young yet to fly. She thought it was a red shouldered hawk but I've seen the adults up close and didn't see any red on them. Looks more like the picture of Swainsons Hawk I saw in my bird book. Birdie what do you think?







This is the fledgling from last year.



I didn't make the pictures big enough, if anyone wants to see bigger images check out my facebook page.

[mitch5252]

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Oh, the little guy looks so scared.
Do you think he'll be okay, really?

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[avalen]

oh, poor little guy, have you seen the parents still in the area?

[Redetotry]

The baby Hawk is still sitting on the edge of his new basket 'nest' and I hear the parents. The woman who caught him said the parents would take care of him in which ever tree we put him. The original nest is near the top of a very tall oak. He looks almost old enough to fly so hopefully in the next few days his feathers will grow fast.

[dayspring39]

Sure hope the little guy makes it...
Kathleen

[mtngal]

Aww, he/she? does look scared! So good that you found him first BJ. Now she has a fighting chance. Sending good luck!

[AlmostThere]

Glad you were able to help the critter. Hope it works outs.

A few days ago I was walking around the corner of my house and noticed a young robin clinging to the sill of my kitchen window. About the same time it panicked and flew right towards me, unable to get much lift to it's flight. I zigged and so did it and it clipped the top of my head as it passed. Eventually landed on the top of the neighbor's fence. I had noticed another one earlier clinging to the bottom of the window area of the same neighbor's car.

[Acadianmom]

Yesterday I watched 2 inept birds trying to build a nest in the corner of our carport where 2 3inch ledges meet. They worked on it all day, dropping more than what stayed up. It has been very windy here and the whole thing finally blew off. I don't see them today so guess they are trying somewhere else.

Martha

[bluepinecones]

Please keep us posted on how the little fellow is doing. So glad you were able to help him; at least he has a chance now thanks to your efforts.

[cpatinjones]

awh...hope he/she will be okay.

[Birdie]

Well, BJ, all the babies look pretty much alike. It is nearly impossible to tell baby species apart. You have a 50/50 chance of getting the sex correct . You would need to ID the parents before you could do a positive of the baby. Most all babies look like Swainsons. Red Shouldered like damp areas as they mostly eat frogs, lizards and creepy crawly things in swampy type areas. You find them near lakes, ponds, rivers. Red tailed/Swainsons are takers of mice, rats, lizards, small birds, very small rabbits/cats/dogs. Then there are the ones that eat insects. So environment/habitat usually will give an indication of the species, too. So get a shot of the adults from the side and there is a better chance for IDing.

There will be someone out there better than me that can ID the baby I am sure.