Photo taken: August 23, 2014
When I relocated my former neighbors’ birdbath to my backyard, I did so with the intent of giving my squirrels a place to play and maybe get a drink when it rains. I didn’t intend for it to be used by….. you know….. birds. 90% of the birds I see in my yard are common black starlings, with most of the remaining 10% being some form of cardinals, blue jays or orioles (None of which are the baseball teams). That made this bird stand out like a sore thumb… what is this winged monster? I offered that up to my readers when I first posted this photo, and the guesses ranged from some type of owl to maybe a hawkish kind of critter. It never was positively identified… so if you pride yourself on being an ornithologist, feel free to step up and tell me what this big grey creature is! He is kinda cute, even if I’m sure he’s gobble up my squirrels and spit them out in one of those fuzzy, bone-filled pellets….
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
he is beautiful!! and we always guessed that Big Berd is not yellow and that he has no eye brows like bottle brushes…
I think Big Berd was the product of a nuclear power plant. We’re lucky he didn’t turn into Godzilla…
wow, he’s a big boy!
I’m not used to seeing birds that big in my yard unless they’re ducks or turkeys…
Do you live on Sesame Street? That’s not Big Bird! Where are his yellow feathers? Where is his annoying voice?
This was one of the actors who was rejected for the role. What could have been…
It has the look of some form of bird of prey. My parents get a regular big visitor to their garden, but it’s easily recognisable as a pigeon.
I’m sure he doesn’t want the squirrels to know he’s a bird of prey…. maybe the mystery is a part of his cover.
I’m sure this bird of prey would eat every last bone and squirrel pellet with not even a bite of fur left un-devoured. Nice capture on the pic!
But then what would I take pictures of? Saturday Pellet doesn’t have the same ring to it…
He looks like a snowy owl in summer plumage.
A later commenter mentioned it could be a sparrowhawk, which this bird is an absolute match for in the eyes. It’s close enough that I think we have a winner…
Hi, I think it’s a Sparrowhawk. . .
I think you may be right! Thanks!
Yep – that’s a hawk alright – we have a LOT of them around here……their “cries” are something Teddy definitely TUNES into when he’s out in the yard. I think they might have a problem picking up a 21 lb. cat but I hear they DO take cats as prey sometimes! EEEK!
Pam
It’s definitely some kind of hawk, although it’s much lighter colored than the ones I see around here. Since I’m a bit of a bird identification geek I’m going to have to visit whatbird.com to see if f I can find out what kind of hawk it is. I didn’t know hawks would visit a bird bath!