Urban Hawk under attack

[Dbl]

So I was busy building a deck and my neighbor calls me over to identify this large bird on their play set. I walk over and, holy cow I didn't expect a hawk! Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it is a Rough Legged Hawk. Just sat there casually until a pair of blue jays started terrorizing him. As you can see he is banded. Sat until a blue jay dive bombed him and hit him. Then he flew to the other neighbors yard and sat on the ground. Few more minutes and he goes on their steel swing set. Sat until the blue jays annoyed him enough and he was gone. Not something you see everyday in the middle of town. Images are nothing special because of the setting but they do help tell the story.

Looking for the offending bird.

Upset about being hit by the blue jay.

The offending blue jay.

[Jim Almquist]

Cool shots Dan. Boy that blue jay is one gutsy bird or he didn't take a look at that hawks beak very closely.

[Steve Foss]

Sweet shots, Dan. Not often a person gets so close to a hawk.

This is a red-tailed hawk. Rough-legged hawks only appear in the lower 48 during migration and winter. They're all nesting in the Arctic tundra right now.

Some of the best field marks differentiating the two species aren't visible in these images (tail, underside of wing in flight). Both species show belly bands, but this bird shows the classic face pattern of a light-phase red-tailed, and the rough-legged has a distinctly smaller beak than the red-tailed, an adaptation to slow heat loss in its Arctic habitat.

[Dbl]

Steve, red tail was my first thought but it didn't look right to me for some reason. Thanks for the ID.

[Steve Foss]

Yeah, red-taileds offer so much plumage variation that it can be tough to figure out. They go from so pale that there are very few dark feathers to so dark they look solid dark brown. Lots of clothes to choose from.

[Duck Matt]

Sweet pics, that thing is banded!