So, I got buzzed by a bird-of-prey on my way home tonight.
Just curious what kind it was, since it’s fairly unusual to see raptors in Chicago. It was small, maybe 12-14 inches tall, had a plain white belly with no banding or speckling, and had a narrow black bar over its eyes. I didn’t get a good look at its back, so other than “dark” (brown/grey) I can’t tell you much. I’ve eliminated the peregrine, as the markings are different – peregrines have more of a dark “hood” on their head than the narrow mask. But I don’t know what other small hawk/falcon-like birds are known to hang out around here.
Sadly I had no photographic device with me. I’m not sure the bird would have given me time to get it out, anyway.
Not a lot to go on, but the only smallish raptor that would be expected in Chicago that might lack streaks or barring below would be a pale phase juvenile Broad-winged Hawk. But even most of these have some streaks or spotting below.
Long shot here , but did itlook like this Kite? There are a number of sightings (per Googling) over last few years of them being around Chicago (or close enough for government work distances from Chicago, so to speak).
From quick glancing at various sighting reports and the years reported, it seems this species is being seen a little further north, on average, every couple years lately (and maybe establishing migratory range further up than in past?). Very much an admittedly weak and grasping guess, but they do have a somewhat obvious band over eyes when seen as they fly quickly by, as described in OP. I see a range of variation in spotting as they mature through the years (seen one pair return to same tree for five years now - neat!)
I have had them buzz me as well, and have had them catch grasshoppers I tossed up as they past by when I was out tending to my garden (under their nesting tree, fwiw). When flying, their eye-markings really look very prominent. Neat birds, for sure. Apologies if I am wrong
Not the kite, but it looked really similar to the juvenile broad-winged hawk in this photo. My bird didn’t have the brown speckling on the breast and belly, and imagine the brown tear mark extending backwards from the eye like a little bandit mask.
It’s apparently not unheard of for some juvies to have nearly unspeckled bellies. It hadn’t occurred to me that its small size might be due to its age – good call.
Unless someone has a better candidate, this is probably it. Thanks!
It was a really cool experience. He swooped right over my head and then perched on a fence post not 10 feet away. We watched each other for a while before the neighbors came home and startled him into a tree. Just when I turned to leave, he swooped behind me into the wall of the building and came away with some critter for dinner that I couldn’t make out because he was too damn fast. He took it some 30 feet up into another tree to eat, so I couldn’t really see anything.
