Think all hawks are big and scary birds of prey? These funny hawk and falcon pictures might change your mind.
Expressive Osprey
“I took this picture in Gulf Breeze, Florida. This curious osprey is checking me out. These birds are amazing to watch. I took this pic with my Nikon Z9 and Z100-400,” says reader Rip Hanks.
You Can’t Catch Me
“This photo was taken during the summer from my backyard in St. Charles, Missouri. An old dead tree in the woods makes a perfect perch. I used a Nikon D7100 camera. The photo is special to me because it is not every day you see a red-tailed hawk and a ruby-throated hummingbird side by side. The size difference of these two birds is just amazing. I love how the hummingbird seems to be taunting the large hawk as if to say catch me if you can. The hawk really seemed to not care that this little bird was zooming so close by,” says reader Nancy Bumpus.
Food or Friend?
“The red-tailed hawk was minding his own business, perched on his post. Just then, along comes this butterfly and it sits down right next to him. The hawk looked at him like, ‘Oh boy, snack time!’ But the butterfly flew to safety just in time,” says reader Clifford Price.
Know a Good Chiropractor?
“These two young Cooper’s hawks recently fledged and spent the day in the Bartlett pear tree in our backyard. I was able to get a lot of nice photos of them. This is one of the more humorous hawk pictures,” says reader Clete Rettenmeier.
Howdy, Partner
“I saw an immature red-shouldered hawk scratching his face and in one shot it looks like he is giving a high five with only four claws,” says reader Reseph Keiderling.
The Three Amigos
“I have known where this osprey nest is for a few years in Barnegat Bay, and I go often to see and photograph the ospreys. This spring, they had three chicks. The day this picture was taken, one of the adults took off from one perch to the other. All three kept their eyes on mom or dad. A minute later the other parent landed at the nest with a fish in it’s talons,” says reader Harold Sutphen.
Don’t Play With Your Food
“This red-tailed hawk flew down right in front of a group of people; we were all in disbelief of how large the hawk was! He just sat there playing with this baby snake by tossing it in the air before he swallowed it. He was showing us how proud he was of his catch! I was lucky enough to catch the snake in mid air in front of the hawk,” says reader Ken Clouse.
If at First You Don’t Succeed
“We watched a hawk nest in our backyard in Arkansas for about a month using my camera with a zoom lens. We were outside with the camera when one chick fell out of the tree and landed in our yard. The picture was taken as he attempted his first flight after that awkward landing. We documented the birds for about six weeks and had a great time watching them as they grew and got more independent,” says reader Eileen Mazurkiewicz.
What’s the Story?
On July 4, we saw four juvenile hawks in our backyard. All four were sitting high up on a telephone pole in our backyard. They were obviously fledgling birds fresh out of the nest. This shot was from that afternoon when two of them settled in together in our backyard oak tree. In the week or more since we first spotted them, they continuously honed their skills, entertained and awed our entire neighborhood here in West Sacramento, California,” says reader Mitchell Lorens.
It’s Too Darn Hot
This is a young Cooper’s hawk learning to fly in our backyard and resting on a limb. The photo was taken with a Canon Rebel XTi with 75-300 zoom lens. The young hawks spent three days around our backyard. This was a 90 degree day and this hawk is probably trying to cool off,” says reader Clete Rettenmeier.
Forgot My Umbrella Again
“A pair of hawks moved into our backyard this winter, took over a squirrel’s nest, and proceeded to raise their new family, much to the chagrin of our regular bird population. The tree they moved into is only about 20 yards from our back porch so it has provided numerous photo opportunities. The picture was taken early this summer with a Nikon D500 camera during a very heavy rainfall,” says reader Frank Kocher.
House Hunters
“We have a nesting box behind our house and have had nesting pairs of kestrels successfully produce chicks every year for eight years. I take photos through the kitchen window,” says reader Julia Rice.
