Comments on: 11 Hawks in California

By: Anna

Anna — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 20:05:56 +0000

I use to tent camp with my father between the ages of 10-14 and we’d spend most the day hiking and looking at the different types of hawks. If you listen and wait in the wilderness of California, doesn’t matter what time of year or terrain, hawks will show up and put on a show. Beautiful creatures! It was worth the sometimes sleepless nights of sharing a sleeping bag with dad because it got so cold in the desert.

By: Alison

Alison — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 18:06:56 +0000

What are we going to do about the over populatioin of crows? The amount of crows here in Santa Cruz County in the urban areas as well as agricultural areas has exponentially grown in 20 years. We often see them harassing hawks and eagles. Today we saw 20 crows chasing a hawk! I predict we will not have hawks here in 10 years, (or just a very small population in the mountains that will eventually disappear). Crows can feed on human trash, so they proliferate around urban areas, but they also decimated a strawberry field, and 70% of the endangered Snowy Plover eggs one season, according to a park ranger we spoke with at the Salinas river. Is anyone else concerned about this?

By: Lee Vitale

Lee Vitale — Mon, 27 May 2024 19:38:45 +0000

In reply to Meri. The white only appeared around the rear of the bird between the legs? Then light brownish/white breast, dark brown wings and dark brown around head. Definitely had three toes?

By: Lee Vitale

Lee Vitale — Mon, 27 May 2024 19:35:25 +0000

In reply to Patricia Turrigiano. I cannot ID a "baby" hawk-like bird that visited our N Calif.backyard. Has three "toes", gray head and wings, white breast. About the size of a robin? Any clues? I lean towards falcon, but no photos seem similar.

By: Meri

Meri — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 16:31:34 +0000

In reply to Patricia Turrigiano. Lucky you! White feathers could be fledgling status & colored breast feathers will appear as Hawk matures.

By: Patricia Turrigiano

Patricia Turrigiano — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 23:29:36 +0000

We saw a white breasted large hawk with a white underside to the tail. Dark feathers on back and varigated under wings. No Rufus feathers and appeared essentially like a black and white bird in photos we took. But far away, so you have to blow up the image and use a magnifying glass to discern it from the background vegettion. It was on the ground at the edge of small ravine leading down to ocean coves along the beach north of Fort Bragg California and close to MacKerricjer State Park. We haven’t seen it here before! The Northern Goshawk comes closest to what we saw, but the breast appeared white to us not stipled as in photo here. Wind was ruffling feather though so that might be why!