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How many raptors have you seen? (1 Viewer)

L

Lmc3598

Well-known member
Hi
I was wondering how may raptors anyone has seen. As they are quite hard to come across (with the exception of common buzzards, which are so common the thrill of seeing them has kinda gone, but still great birds) I was wondering if anyone has a really big list.

This is my list

Common buzzard 100 plus, various parts of Scotland and England.
Common kestrel 100 plus, various parts of Scotland and England.
Eurasian sparrowhawk 30-40, various parts of Scotland and England.
Peregrine falcon 13, Highlands, Dumfries and Galloway, Borders, Cumbria and Devon.
White-tailed eagle 5, Highlands and Argyll
Red kite 3, Highlands, Dumfries and Galloway
Barn owl 2, Borders
Tawny owl, 1, Borders
Osprey 1, Northumberland
Golden eagle 1, Highlands
 
1 peregrine- fence post of my house, Lake Worth fl.
5 bald eagles-south and central Florida
2 red tailed hawks
1 sharp shinned hawk-Delray Bch Fl
? 2-3 Coopers hawks
? lotsa red shoulder hawks
I short tailed hawk- Delray Bch Fl
3 American kestrel every day in their respective territories , Delray/Boynton
Ooodles of Ospreys, especially "Dad" on SW 29th Ave, Delray Bch Fl
1 screech owl
1 Merlin falcon- Hypoluxo Scrub, Hypoluxo, FL
4 or 5 Northern Harriers- Seacrest Scrub and Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Bch FL
10 million turkey vultures
700 million Black Vultures
That's what it seems like anyway.
 
Last edited:
You're lucky having vultures and bald eagles over there here we do have eagles but not in my area and no vultures. We do have a lot of hawks and falcons though.
 
I love vultures. I'm a proud member of the Turkey Vulture Society! But I wish we had more hawks/falcons. I must edit my post to include the Merlin I saw the other day, come to think of it. And the Norther Harriers too.
 
I've heard that Merlins are less skittish than American Kestrels. This Merlin had no fear of me, and I pestered him for quite a while. He was maybe ten feet above me. A little bird flew into a lower part of the tree....within a second, the Merlin was up, did a quick twist and descent, and that little bird was toast. I'd heard about their stealth hunting around treetrunks, and that was a terrifc example.
 
White-Tailed Eagle
Merlin (both sides of the Atlantic)
Peregrine (Europe and N.America)
Golden Eagle
Common Kestrel
Hobby
Goshawk
Sparrowhawk
Red Kite
Black Kite
Hen Harrier
March Harrier
Montagu's Harrier
Osprey (both sides of Atlantic)
Common Buzzard
Rough Legged Buzzard
Honey Buzzard
Eagle Owl
Little Owl
Barn owl
Long Eared Owl
Short Eared Owl (both sides of Atlantic)
Bald Eagle
Red Tailed Hawk
Broad Winged Hawk
Red Shouldered Hawk
Coopers Hawk
Sharp Shinned Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Swainson's Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
American kestrel
Northern Harrier
Mississippi Kite
Prairie Falcon
one or two species of Caracara
Andean Condor
Barred Owl
Eastern Screech Owl
Great Horned Owl

I know I'm forgetting one or two.
 
Last edited:
Lmc3598 said:
We also have merlins over here but have yet to see one
Click to expand...

Same here, and Hobby too. Finally have seen Peregrines though, which I'd really wanted to see for ages and ages! Here in the UK I've seen:

Kestrel
Sparrowhawk
Peregrine Falcon
Marsh Harrier
Buzzard

Barn Owl
Short-eared Owl
Tawny Owl

Osprey and Red Kite have both been reported as seen in my neighbourhood but I didn't get to see those, would have been amazing to have on my patch list!
 
From memory

  1. Osprey
  2. Honey buzzard
  3. Red kite
  4. Black kite
  5. Egyptian vulture - Balearics
  6. Griffon vulture - Majorca
  7. European black vulture - Majorca
  8. Marsh harrier
  9. Hen harrier
  10. Montagu's harrier - Norfolk
  11. Sparrowhawk
  12. Goshawk - Durham
  13. Common buzzard
  14. Rough legged buzzard
  15. Golden eagle - Cumbria
  16. Booted eagle - Balearics
  17. Kestrel
  18. Red footed falcon
  19. Amur falcon
  20. Eleonora's falcon - Majorca
  21. Hobby
  22. Merlin
  23. Peregrine
  24. Eagle owl - Yorks/Lancs border if ever accepted by BOU
  25. Long eared owl
  26. Short eared owl
  27. Tawny owl
  28. Barn owl
  29. Little owl
  30. Scops owl - Balearics
Seen in Yorkshire except where noted.
 
Common Buzzard
Long legged buzzard
Honey Buzzard
Hen Harrier
Marsh Harrier
Short toed Eagle
Golden Eagle
Bonellis Eagle
Tawny Owl
Litlle Owl
Osprey
Peregrine Falcon
Sparrowhawk
Kestrel

All above seen since I moved to Turkey one year ago.
 
  1. Perigrine Falcon
  2. Brown Falcon
  3. Nankeen Kestrel
  4. Common Kestrel
  5. Black Kite
  6. Braminny Kite
  7. Black-shouldered Kite
  8. Pacific Baza
  9. Whistling Kite
  10. White-bellied Sea-Eagle
  11. Brown Goshawk
  12. Grey Goshawk
  13. Spotted Harrier
  14. Swamp Harrier
  15. Wedge-tailed Eagle
  16. Little Eagle
  17. Eastern Osprey
  18. Powerful Owl
  19. Barking Owl
  20. Southern Boobook
  21. Sooty Owl
  22. Eastern Barn Owl
  23. Oriental Honey-buzzard
  24. Cinereous Vulture
  25. Eastern Marsh Harrier
  26. Pied Harrier
  27. Crested Goshawk
  28. Shikra
  29. Rufous-winged Buzzard
  30. Greater Spotted Eagle
  31. Asian Barred Owlet
 
I had a list on my PC for Brazil (2010), one Mexico trip (2004), an Australia checklist from which I pulled some (others I'd have to check hard-copies at home), and from a US fieldguide (these I actually could largely do from memory) ... would have to check the Africa and Europe lists but, for sport...not in any sensible order and with no locations though.

Aplamado Falcon
Bat Falcon
Barred Forest-falcon
Bicolored Hawk
Black Caracara
Black Hawk-eagle
Black Vulture
Black-collared Hawk
Burrowing Owl
Collared Forest-falcon
Great Black Hawk
Greater Yellow-headed Vulture
King Vulture
Laughing Falcon
Least Pygmy-owl
Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
Mantled Hawk
Roadside Hawk
Rufous-thighed Kite
Savannah Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Snail Kite
Southern Caracara
Swallow-tailed Kite
Tropical Screech-owl
Yellow-headed Caracara
Osprey
Pacific Baza
Black-shouldered Kite
Letter-winged Kite
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Brahminy Kite
White-bellied Sea-Eagle
Brown Goshawk
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Brown Falcon
Nankeen Kestrel
Turkey Vulture
Gray Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
California Condor
Golden Eagle
Bald Eagle
Mississippi Kite
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Northern Goshawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Common Black Hawk
Harris’ Hawk
Zone-tailed Hawk
Short-tailed Hawk
Eurasian Kestrel
Merlin
Prairie Falcon
Gyrfalcon
Barn Owl
Short-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl
Great-horned Owl
Barred Owl
Great Gray Owl
Spotted Owl
Snowy Owl
Eastern Screech-owl
Western Screech-owl
Whiskered Screech-owl
Flammulated Owl
Elf Owl
Ferruginous Pygmy-owl
Northern Pygmy-owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Boreal Owl
 
Steve Schoech said:
I had a list on my PC for Brazil (2010), one Mexico trip (2004), an Australia checklist from which I pulled some (others I'd have to check hard-copies at home), and from a US fieldguide (these I actually could largely do from memory) ... would have to check the Africa and Europe lists but, for sport...not in any sensible order and with no locations though.

Aplamado Falcon
Bat Falcon
Barred Forest-falcon
Bicolored Hawk
Black Caracara
Black Hawk-eagle
Black Vulture
Black-collared Hawk
Burrowing Owl
Collared Forest-falcon
Great Black Hawk
Greater Yellow-headed Vulture
King Vulture
Laughing Falcon
Least Pygmy-owl
Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
Mantled Hawk
Roadside Hawk
Rufous-thighed Kite
Savannah Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Snail Kite
Southern Caracara
Swallow-tailed Kite
Tropical Screech-owl
Yellow-headed Caracara
Osprey
Pacific Baza
Black-shouldered Kite
Letter-winged Kite
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Brahminy Kite
White-bellied Sea-Eagle
Brown Goshawk
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Brown Falcon
Nankeen Kestrel
Turkey Vulture
Gray Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
California Condor
Golden Eagle
Bald Eagle
Mississippi Kite
Northern Harrier
Cooper’s Hawk
Northern Goshawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Common Black Hawk
Harris’ Hawk
Zone-tailed Hawk
Short-tailed Hawk
Eurasian Kestrel
Merlin
Prairie Falcon
Gyrfalcon
Barn Owl
Short-eared Owl
Long-eared Owl
Great-horned Owl
Barred Owl
Great Gray Owl
Spotted Owl
Snowy Owl
Eastern Screech-owl
Western Screech-owl
Whiskered Screech-owl
Flammulated Owl
Elf Owl
Ferruginous Pygmy-owl
Northern Pygmy-owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Boreal Owl
Click to expand...

This is a HUGE list!

Simon Wates said:
Here in southern Portugal I usually manage 28-30 species of raptors annually - not including owls
Click to expand...

That's three times more than I've ever seen.
 
Lmc3598 said:
wow, that's a very long list. And forgetting one or two?
Click to expand...

Lived in the right places I guess. I forgot Hobby (added it now) and have a feeling there are one or two that I've seen Stateside that I'm forgetting.

See that's what happens when I do this from memory. I forgot White-Tailed Eagle too! Even though I made my dad drive me 100km to go see one when I was 13.
 
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