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large bird from western US (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Chris Benesh
- Start date
scary-canary
Canaries forever... and i'm not always scary, some
Give us a clue please? Is it a pelican? Skua?Chris Benesh said:
KnockerNorton
Well-known member
MSA said:
That's what I thought, but don't they have white on the rump/tail? Would also rule out any other usual geese.
AStevenson
Well-known member
Errr you've got me!?
Various possibilities but none I could be sure of -
1) imm Brown pelican - general plumage and apparent bulk of the bird, but I'm not convinced the wings look long enough.
2) blue snow goose - surely only a juv could be that dark and it ain't a juv and no contrast with pale rump so not that! - famous last words
3) dark morph buzzard(hawk) species - looks too heavy for rough-leg and any hawk shouldn't show ple greyish in the wings??
4) imm Bald Eagle - again the proportions appear a bit odd at that angle and I'd have thought it'd look more mottled.
or possibly an imm cormorant species but again shouldn't really have the paler greyish bits............oh I give up!!
Cheers
Andrew
Various possibilities but none I could be sure of -
1) imm Brown pelican - general plumage and apparent bulk of the bird, but I'm not convinced the wings look long enough.
2) blue snow goose - surely only a juv could be that dark and it ain't a juv and no contrast with pale rump so not that! - famous last words
3) dark morph buzzard(hawk) species - looks too heavy for rough-leg and any hawk shouldn't show ple greyish in the wings??
4) imm Bald Eagle - again the proportions appear a bit odd at that angle and I'd have thought it'd look more mottled.
or possibly an imm cormorant species but again shouldn't really have the paler greyish bits............oh I give up!!
Cheers
Andrew
Chris Benesh
So much work, so little time...so let's go birding
Isurus
Well-known member
Chris Benesh said:Our resident mako enthusiast is on the right track here! Deliberately tricky, I have attached another photo to further debate with Isurus's clue in mind, that yields a couple more clues.
Chris
currently in Anchorage, AK
Sweet! I never get id's right! Unfortunately my id skills are limited to "that looks like a [insert family here]" as opposed to "that looks like a [insert species here]" so I'm stuck now. Does look quite long winged though.
atricapillus
Well-known member
___________________________________Chris Benesh said:Our resident mako enthusiast is on the right track here! Deliberately tricky, I have attached another photo to further debate with Isurus's clue in mind, that yields a couple more clues.
Chris
currently in Anchorage, AK
Well after thinking what raptor could be that bulky bodied, and have whitish patches in it,and soft corners to the tail, ended up with two choices--some Asian exotic, or the apparent clue Chis is refering to--could it be one of those pale Great Horned Owls?
CHEERS, JOE G
AStevenson
Well-known member
Chris put us out of our misery!!
Really don't like those pale patches and apparent broad pale fringes & edges or the apparent plainness of the plumage.
That tail with the fine bars suggests a falcon, so some variation of a darkish gyr??? but then again given that red-tailed hawks have all manner of variants and that we could be into Harlan's territory in the NW I suppose that's a possibility if an imm could show such a finely barred tail??
Cheers,
Andrew
Really don't like those pale patches and apparent broad pale fringes & edges or the apparent plainness of the plumage.
That tail with the fine bars suggests a falcon, so some variation of a darkish gyr??? but then again given that red-tailed hawks have all manner of variants and that we could be into Harlan's territory in the NW I suppose that's a possibility if an imm could show such a finely barred tail??
Cheers,
Andrew
I'll jump in here, if you guys don't mind! ;-)
My first thought was a gyr, but the pale around the edge of the tail is making my wonder. It doesn't appear buteo to me, but it is so hard to tell from these two shots.
If it wasn't for the lack of a white rump, I could almost say harrier.
My first thought was a gyr, but the pale around the edge of the tail is making my wonder. It doesn't appear buteo to me, but it is so hard to tell from these two shots.
If it wasn't for the lack of a white rump, I could almost say harrier.
Chris Benesh
So much work, so little time...so let's go birding
Okay, okay, okay!
Here is the less puzzling perspective on the bird taken before it left its seaside perch. It was taken near Nome, Alaska a couple of days ago. Great work white-back, who sleuthed it out (and congrats to those who were more or less there), and apologies to those who did not. I knew that the flight shots were particularly tough, but thought what the heck!
Chris
Currently in Seward, Alaska
Here is the less puzzling perspective on the bird taken before it left its seaside perch. It was taken near Nome, Alaska a couple of days ago. Great work white-back, who sleuthed it out (and congrats to those who were more or less there), and apologies to those who did not. I knew that the flight shots were particularly tough, but thought what the heck!
Chris
Currently in Seward, Alaska
Attachments
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Chris Benesh
So much work, so little time...so let's go birding
white-back said:
Indeed White-back,
Seeing that wolverine fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine and has become the high point of my natural history life. It was my most wanted mammal since the age of twelve, when I first learned of them. Finally saw it in 2003 in Denali National Park.
Chris
