Do Hawks Hunt at Night, are they attracted to light?

[Linwood Ferguson]

In another thread I mentioned that I shoot soccer a lot, and mostly at night (SW Florida, day games tend to have poor attendance in the summer).

I've noticed at most matches there's a large bird which at least once or twice flies across the field, usually just above the lights or dipping into the light pool. At least a couple times I've seen it land on the lights themselves. He is always moving from near the field on one side to near it on the other, not just passing over, so he's either drawn to the light (but not into it), or this is his normal area. There is a fair amount of both fields and swamps around the area. I only see him after full dark; the games usually start a bit before sunset, I never see anything like him until it's stars-out type dark.

I've never been able to get a shot of him, he flies fairly quickly. He seems big. It is not a bat (we have some of those, some big ones at our baseball field), he flies like a hunter (long glides, strong wing beats), not a wading bird. I've never gotten a good look at the head, I usually see him flying away from me.

I thought owl.

Today in a day game (one of the few), I happened to notice these two sitting in a tree. This is a tiny, tiny, tiny crop from an under-exposed image, but they are clearly not owls.

But I didn't think Hawks moved around much at night. Could it be them?

Or is it more likely an owl?

Sadly this was the last home soccer game. Not sure if whatever it is will show up for softball or baseball later in the year.

Any guesses what I'm seeing at night?

PS. This is just posted for grins, not because it is a good shot. Though I'm pretty surprised that poorly exposed tight crop is even recognizable.

[Paul Guris]

On ID, these are adult Red-shouldered Hawks.

On hunting at night, night migrating songbird studies were done on the Empire State Bldg because the birds were attracted to the lights. They found that Peregrines were coming in and hunting the songbirds in the middle of the night. I've personally seen several species of hawks hunting the huge bat flight after sunset out near Concan, TX, though there was at least a bit of light left.

[shane shacaluga]

how much time after nightfall are you seeing this bird?

Hawks and other raptors will generally roost just after dusk but the lights and the game may keep them up

They may even be roosting inside the stadium so cannot get to bed until you guys leave :D

[Linwood Ferguson]

how much time after nightfall are you seeing this bird?

Hawks and other raptors will generally roost just after dusk but the lights and the game may keep them up

They may even be roosting inside the stadium so cannot get to bed until you guys leave :D

That's possible, though I don't see any nests, but they certainly could be in trees nearby (it is more field with light poles than stadium, there are no big structures).

To the ID, yes, I knew that bird. Whether that's the one I see at night I do not know. But might be.

As to timing, I'd say it is about an hour after dark. I've never seen them (whatever bird it is) at dusk, so far as I know. Bear in mind that what I see and ignore in light (say a Ibis flying over, of which we have a bazillion nearby) may look very different at night. But most of the wading birds we have around here don't fly at night so far as I know.

It looks bigger than the hawks, more like a large owl. But having seen the hawks now at the same field, I'm thinking that may be what comes by. And likely are nested nearby somewhere -- I'm guessing that was a mated pair. So maybe the soccer games are disturbing their evenings.

Baseball starts in the spring a couple hundred yards away, maybe they'll come visit. The lights there aim a bit higher, so maybe I can even get a night shot.

[Linwood Ferguson]

This is an old thread, but I think I figured out what I had been seeing at night. I never managed to get a good look at them at night, but today I saw the same looking wings in the daytime.

I was shooting softball, and this pole was a long way away, but he's definitely of the owl persuasion, not hawk, and not bat. I guess i don't know for sure this is what swoops over our soccer field, but it's right next door, so I bet it is.

He was sitting there being harassed by crows for a bit but mostly ignoring them when a hawk came by, drove him off the pole, and up into a palm tree.






I got the two of them flying, but was late -- this is a grab shot with the lens I was using for softball right then, and I didn't even manage to zoom before they were gone:



But a bit later I managed to get him sitting in a coconut palm, almost completely hidden away.

I don't offer these as good birding shots, just to bit a bit of closure (or at least possible closure) to this thread.

[Paul Guris]

The main bird is a Great-horned Owl. The bird it is following is a Red-shouldered Hawk. Neat stuff!

[Linwood Ferguson]

The main bird is a Great-horned Owl. The bird it is following is a Red-shouldered Hawk. Neat stuff!

Thanks for the ID. I was going to look it up once I finished editing my softball shots.

Hopefully he'll show up again when I have a nice long lens, or he's closer. The hawks are fairly common here (not so much as ospreys), but that's the first owl I've seen in the wild other than the little borrowing owls, which are everywhere.

But that hawk was very unhappy to have him around. I've never heard so much screaching, usually they are more subtle.

[shane shacaluga]

Wow!!! Great you finally managed to ID the bird. Lovely looking owl

now you know what it is you can try a get a few closeup in flight shots

thanks for keeping us informed ;)