# What kind of bird of prey is this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-bird-of-prey-is-this/751543 "2016-04-08T14:20:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-bird-of-prey-is-this/751543/1 "2016-04-08T14:20:18Z")
[Picture here](http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll268/dutchboy208/DSC_0324.jpg) - found it eating a squirrel on my front lawn when leaving for work the other day. It tried to fly off with the carcass when I pulled my car out of the garage but wasn’t strong enough to lift off with it, apparently. So it just sat there and waited for me to leave. My wife thinks it’s an osprey but it nests in a tree in the back yard and there’s no major body of water nearby (just some ornamental lakes). I think it’s a [red-shouldered hawk](http://www.floridabirdsofprey.com/HawkPhotos.html) after comparing it to the pictures on that page (particularly the fourth one). We’re in Florida, but in Orlando so nowhere near the sea. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-bird-of-prey-is-this/751543/2 "2016-04-08T14:32:04Z")
I agree with your red-shouldered hawk ID. It is definitely not an osprey. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-bird-of-prey-is-this/751543/3 "2016-04-08T14:39:47Z")
Red shouldered hawk ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-bird-of-prey-is-this/751543/4 "2016-04-08T16:03:48Z")
I agree with Red-shouldered Hawk. The Florida subspecies is much paler than those found in the rest of the US. An Osprey is much larger and darker and has a black “mask” across the eye. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-bird-of-prey-is-this/751543/5 "2016-04-08T16:05:32Z")
Is it common for them to hunt squirrels? I know small mammals are common raptor food, but I didn’t think squirrels were, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-bird-of-prey-is-this/751543/6 "2016-04-08T16:09:52Z")
I usually see red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks with smaller prey. maybe this one found a roadkill meal. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-bird-of-prey-is-this/751543/7 "2016-04-08T17:16:05Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I usually see red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks with smaller prey. maybe this one found a roadkill meal. I’ve definitely seen red-tailed hawks go after squirrels, particularly in suburban areas with the open grassy areas where they like to hunt, and where the squirrels have grown fat and careless. (See the picture at the top of [All About Bird’s entry for the red-tailed hawk,](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/) for example.) In a more “natural” setting, hunting in an open grassland, red-tailed hawks probably wouldn’t catch a tree squirrel all that often. Red-shouldered hawks, on the other hand, “naturally” tend to hunt in forests, and would be more likely to catch a squirrel.