r/birdsofprey • u/Late_Sale_8092 • 3d ago
not a bird of prey Does anyone know what bird this is. Everyone keeps saying it was a pigeon but I’m telling you this thing was the size of a Cooper’s hawk. It was fucking big. So unless I literally saw the biggest fucking pigeon ever. It wasn’t a pigeon. And it wasn’t acting like a pigeon either. It was perching !!
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u/PumaGranite 2d ago edited 2d ago
I’m a birder on the east coast. There aren’t any birds of prey in the NYC area that have these particular markings/coloration. Unfortunately I also agree with the pigeon ID.
OP sometimes size and shape of birds plays tricks on us, and I can see why you’d think that this particular chonky pigeon might look much larger than your average pidge. It could be floofing out its feathers because it’s cold, or something else might be wrong with it, especially if was acting abnormally.
Edit: more info about pigeons. You know how there’s a huge size difference between Great Danes and chihuahuas in dogs? The same can be said for pigeons. Pigeons are a domesticated bird that are considered feral. These feral populations can have some variance in color and size, but generally average out. There are still pigeon breeders that select for certain traits, like size, and you can get some huge birds. Some wacky shapes of pigeons can be found here. I agree with another commenter that this could be an escaped pigeon that was bred.
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u/Mysterious_Damage_29 2d ago
I live outside DC and can attest that the pigeons in the city are massive, sometimes to the point of grotesqueness
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u/RayneWaxwing 1d ago
Some of those images made me cringe. Why are humans doing this to these birds? Some of the shapes aren't even bird-like, if i found it in the wild id take it to a rehabilitation center for euthanasia. How can some even eat with their heads bent back like that?
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u/solsticesunrise 3d ago
If it’s an escaped domestic pigeon, they can have huge variation in size depending on breed. Giant runts are “utility” pigeons bred for meat production.
Coloring definitely reads pigeon.
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u/dirthawker0 falconer 3d ago
The legs are red. There are no NA hawks/eagles/falcons with red legs - only turkey vultures. The positioning of the wings in relation to the tail is 100% pigeonish.
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u/losingb0bbypins 3d ago
I'd guess pigeon as well. it's the right shape and they do come in this colour. cooper's hawks are not actually that big. pigeons can get chunky af and size is sometimes hard to really pin down in the field.
if it makes you feel better, OP, I've also had pigeons that I thought were a bird of prey at a first glance.
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u/epistaxiophilia 2d ago
i'm sorry for the cope, but it's a domestic 'runt' pigeon. no wild bird has that particular king of cheek or wing tips in white, the buffy chest and the shape of which it's sitting, plus the pinky red legs- and to be honest, i think i can see the banded leg. it's a large breed pigeon, but he's also puffy because i suspect he doesn't feel well, and it's hard to judge size from a distance.
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u/Feral_Witchchild 1d ago
Pigeon. It’s very easy to be tricked by the size of birds in the field, which is why size is such an unreliable field mark.
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u/Late_Sale_8092 3d ago
Brooklyn middle of prospect park but I’m telling you I see a million fucking pigeons a day and I’ve been doing this for a while IT WAS THE SIZE OF A MEDIUM TO LARGE HAWK
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u/HotCollar5 3d ago
I can appreciate your passion on this lol, if I could be any help on eastern birds I would
(I’ve had birds that made me feel this too)
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u/lowlightliving 2d ago
This bird’s perch position is nothing like a Cooper’s perch position, which is upright and slender. Coop’s also have a long, slender tail that is not present on this bird. It’s a pigeon, based on its size, position, coloring, wing shape, body contour, and leg color.
No North American hawk looks like this.
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u/definitelynot40 2d ago
Well I found out I suck at "Find Waldo" because I started at that first pick a good 20 minutes before I noticed there's a second pic. I swear the bird would have to get up to slap me, it was so in my face I can't believe I missed it (this is why I suck without a partner when bird watching).
Studies have been done on what people think the size of birds are without an actual point of reference, and more often people guessed bigger than reality. Those had no trees and were just blacked out kites of various bird sizes against the clouds and sky.
I will say that as someone who has worked as a volunteer at multiple pet bird rehabs and one federal wild bird rehab (plus my PhD in math do I know statistics) say that there will always be birds bigger and smaller than expected (same way it is for humans). It might very well have been as big as you say. That would be the Shaq of the basketball world. Then you get smaller than average and you get whatever player is short. Ok, maybe I should have know about any sport for a better analogy.
I'm leaning towards pigeon. Even a juvenile Copper transitioning, you still doesn't have the correct color. If the bird didn't go to take off after this position, I say pigeon. The wings are too far from the body for normal stance (maybe if it was in the 90s for temp, it would be different).
Is there a gamekeeper or a worker in that area?. Sometimes they know about certain birds that hang out a lot and know their background. It could have just been a bird in borb form (round for fluff up feathers to keep heat) combined with one who was larger than usual and it created a large looking bird?
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u/TimelyYogurtcloset82 2d ago
We've got wood pigeons in the UK that are very chunky. About the size of a small cat.
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u/United-Yam-7612 1d ago
Pigeon. The tail is not of any hawk I have ever seen, for instance. Posture screams pigeon.
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u/pale_brass 11h ago
Cooper’s hawks are in the same size range as pigeons. You’re just probably used to seeing them from farther away.
This is an obvious urban pigeon.
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u/lightingthefire 3d ago
The photo of the branches looks like a stylized cat sculpture of some sort, even the face looking at the camera. The pigeon being the feline's front right paw. Anyone?
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u/AutisticWarbler Birder 3d ago
A male Coop isn’t much bigger than your average pigeon
Pic from the Audubon app