Raptor ID please (1 Viewer)

Gallus

Well-known member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #1

I came accross this bird on a single track road in Ardnamurchan West Highlands of Scotland sitting on a Kill I had past this spot 2 minutes before and there were no othercars on the road, the bird it had killed looked like a bird of prey of a simillar size it lifted it on to a rock at the side of the road where iI took these pictures it was disturbed by another car and flew away with its kill. The colours in the picture are quite accurate the bird was about 20"" long ? can anyone help

 

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Last edited: Mar 7, 2004

C

cjay

Well-known member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #2

Not with out a photograph or some kind of description.
CJ

 

gthang

Ford Focus Fanatic: mmmmmm... 3.1415926535.....

• Mar 7, 2004

• #3

do you have a picture?
and since i'm clueless about foreign birds, i'm just gonna give you a general name.

could be a hawk, of some kind

 

B

Brendan T

Well-known member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #4

juv Peregrine

 

C

cjay

Well-known member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #5

Its a Peregrine Falcon!

 

H

HH75

Well-known member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #6

Hi Gallus,
Appears to be a 1st-w Merlin(on cere colour)
Harry

 

E

Edward woodwood

Member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #7

yep that's a merlin Harry

 

H

HH75

Well-known member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #8

Hi all,
Had considered Peregrine as well,due to the well-marked head pattern,but the extent of streaking(almost coalescing into solid lines of 'spots') on the flanks in the second photo is very suggestive of Merlin,and the head pattern,though well-marked,also looks odd for Peregrine.
Harry
P.S.See that I'm not alone in thinking that it's a Merlin!

 

Last edited: Mar 7, 2004

nirofo

Well-known member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #9

Hi Gallus

Is that 20" long or 20cm, if it's 20" then I haven't a clue what it is, if it's 20cm then it's probably an immature male Merlin.

nirofo.

 

H

HH75

Well-known member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #10

Hi Nirofo,
I'd imagine that 20" is what was intended,but note that size assessment of a lone bird is notoriously difficult:I always take such accurate estimates of size with a pinch of salt.
No less a birder than the late Peter Grant said that the apparent size of the bird he was watching was dependent on what species he thought it was(and he was no slouch at ID,to say the least)!
Harry

 

Gallus

Well-known member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #11

Thanks for your replys, I am not to confident about size the bird looked on the small side for a peregrine but it picked up a bird at least its own size if not bigger and flew of with it.

 

Michael Frankis

conehead

• Mar 7, 2004

• #12

Gallus said:

Tbut it picked up a bird at least its own size if not bigger and flew of with it.

Click to expand...

Classic Merlin behaviour, that! - though I guess other falcons do, too.

I know of a case of a Merlin taking a Bar-tailed Godwit (about 1½ x its own weight) successfully.

Michael

 

B

Bluetail

Senior Moment

• Mar 7, 2004

• #13

Merlin for me too.

Jason

 

Michael Frankis

conehead

• Mar 7, 2004

• #14

Anyone care to name the dinner?

I'll have a stab at Sky Lark, but not 100% certain

Michael

 

esmondb

The fool that MrT doesn't pity

• Mar 7, 2004

• #15

Michael Frankis said:

Anyone care to name the dinner?

I'll have a stab at Sky Lark, but not 100% certain

Michael

Click to expand...

Are you going for skylark on likelihood of it being favoured prey or on ID based on the photo

 

gthang

Ford Focus Fanatic: mmmmmm... 3.1415926535.....

• Mar 7, 2004

• #16

looking at the first picture, the legs of the prey are very orange in color with really long claws. might be another Bird of Prey...

 

Gallus

Well-known member

• Mar 7, 2004

• #17

The Merlins lunch looked like a bird of prey to me but there was a River estury close by so it could have been a wader.

 

Michael Frankis

conehead

• Mar 7, 2004

• #18

Hi Esmond, Gthang & Gallus,

A mixture of best ident I can manage from the pic, plus probability in the area (counts out e.g. Calandra Lark!). It looks too large for Meadow Pipit, and the white underside of the tail excludes thrushes (I had thought of Redwing or Song Thrush, but they both have dark grey/blackish undersides to the tail). The leg colour rules a lot out too, of course. Not a bird of prey; the wing & tail structure/shape are wrong, and the legs too slender. Not a wader, the tail is too long.

Michael

 

Last edited: Mar 7, 2004

C

Chaiyan

Well-known member

• Mar 8, 2004

• #19

Agreed with 1st-w Merlin.

Another mark would be its wing obviously fall short of the tail.Peregrine would have wing about the tail length or overshoot abit. :bounce:

 

H

HH75

Well-known member

• Mar 8, 2004

• #20

Hi all,
If the prey item is a Skylark(and it looks good for one),then I'd say that the Merlin is a 1st-w male on size alone!
Harry