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02-28-2016, 05:07 PM   #1
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Bird ID please

I was visiting family and had my 16-50 on the camera when this bird started squawking loudly and was riding the wind currents (windy day) it had a partner.. so there were 2 of them flying around.

I'm not a birder and sadly 50mm isn't a telephoto range.. so I only have this shot that I had to crop to get.

Would someone please ID this bird. It was actually rather large in build.. hawk? falcon? I'm not sure

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02-28-2016, 05:09 PM   #2
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Your location would be helpful?
02-28-2016, 05:17 PM   #3
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Unfortunately the lack of plumage detail and the inability to discern wing shape makes this a challenge to identify. However, the width and spacing of the dark bars on the tail suggest Osprey or immature Red-shouldered Hawk, depending on the geographic location. Osprey is large, whereas Red-shouldered Hawk is medium-sized.
02-28-2016, 05:50 PM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by pete-tarmigan Quote
Unfortunately the lack of plumage detail and the inability to discern wing shape makes this a challenge to identify. However, the width and spacing of the dark bars on the tail suggest Osprey or immature Red-shouldered Hawk, depending on the geographic location. Osprey is large, whereas Red-shouldered Hawk is medium-sized.
Yes, this guy was high in the sky and I was shooting with a standard lens. But I think it might be a red shouldered Hawk...

He was soaring in circles.. seemingly aimlessly with its mate?


Here is another crappy photo I've overexposed to pull out a little more detail.. note how the wing tip feathers are together..

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02-29-2016, 12:01 AM   #5
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If you can remember more details about the bird, you can look it up here


WhatBird | identify birds | bird identification guide | north america
02-29-2016, 07:07 AM - 1 Like   #6
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Hard to tell... Looks like breast streaking and thin white banding on tail. I'd say either Red-Tailed Hawk or Red-Shouldered Hawk.
If you can remember the breast streaking and tail that will help.

02-29-2016, 09:17 AM - 2 Likes   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by UserAccessDenied Quote
Hard to tell... Looks like breast streaking and thin white banding on tail. I'd say either Red-Tailed Hawk or Red-Shouldered Hawk.
If you can remember the breast streaking and tail that will help.
On the one hand, I would lean toward immature red-shoulder because the throat appears to be dark and the breast appears to be streaked. I'd rule out adult red-shoulder because of the width of the tail bars. On the other hand, the width of the tail bars does suggest immature red-tail. It's hard to tell whether the red-shoulder's translucent patches at the base of the primaries are absent because the lighting conditions were not conducive, or because it's a red-tail.


Last edited by pete-tarmigan; 02-29-2016 at 09:20 AM. Reason: typo
02-29-2016, 04:51 PM   #8
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Thanks guys!

Sadly, I swapped the 55-300 for the 16-50 last minute before heading out that day. Oh well. At least I'm pretty sure now of what it was!
02-29-2016, 06:55 PM   #9
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I think not for redtail which show dark marks on the leading edge of the underwing in all light morphs.
02-29-2016, 07:40 PM   #10
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Definitely not an Osprey, I'm going to go with Red Shouldered Hawk. Notice the coloring of the front underside of the wings in the second shot. The Red Tailed has a more whitish coloring and a dark leading edge, while the Red Shouldered has the darker patch right behind the leading edge that looks more like this bird.

Also, from watching loads of Red Tailed Hawks, the stripes on the tail are not often very distinct. The adult has a rust red tail, with faint stripes on the upper side if any. This is also probably winter plumage, which is a lighter shade and more difficult to distinguish between the two. In summer it will be darker and more distinct.

I'm sticking with Red Shouldered Hawk.
03-01-2016, 06:15 AM - 1 Like   #11
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Giant Teratorn is my guess.
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