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Raptor id - Kruger NP, South Africa (1 Viewer)

Hi Andy

I don't think that it is Dickinson's Kestrel, as suggested with your first posting. The jizz is all wrong for that.

I'll stick my neck out and suggest a (very) pale phase of Wahlberg's Eagle. There are illustrations in SASOL and Roberts that look similar to your bird but have a dark smudge through the eye. I'm guessing that this mark could disappear in an even paler phase.

It would be useful to know whether it had a feathered tarsus (=Aquila eagle) or not).

Pete
 
Thanks Pete,

(Not my pic, I've only seen a bit of Africa from afar, never been there!) My first instinct was that it could be a Booted Eagle - type but the only SA field guide I have to hand is a '59 reprint of Gill - quaint but useless for this!

Andy.

PS - just checked the Database; Wahlberg's and Booted are both Hieraaetus spp. so you could well be right.

(Why doesn't Wahlberg's come up in the results when I search for Hieraaetus? - mental note to ask the site techies....).
 
Hi Andy/TwoBoy

Wahlberg's seems to swing between an Aquila and a Hieraaetus but both have feathered tarsii. I can't tell from the photo if this one does or not.

SASOL (Sinclair's) book states for Wahlberg's "could be confused with pale form of Booted but differ in flight shape ... and in having more white on the head".



Pete
 
pete woodall said:
SASOL (Sinclair's) book states for Wahlberg's "could be confused with pale form of Booted but differ in flight shape ... and in having more white on the head".
Click to expand...

That sounds closer to this bird than the (few) pale phase Booted Eagles I've seen in Spain.

Andy.
 
hello

I am certainly no expert in diurnal raptors but this does look like a buteo lagopus (i aplogise for scientific name but i only have a french name for it). I will search more and let you know. But what a fantastic looking bird.
bubobubo
 
Hi twoboys,

I'd agree that your bird looks more like a Buteo than Falco. Which one I couldn't say but Rough legged buzzard looks pretty good, not sure of the distribution without reference though.

Woody
 
I'm with the other 2. Defnitely looks buteo but I don't know what species. I'd love to see one whatever it turns out to be.
 
This looks like a pale morph Wahlberg's Eagle Aquila wahlbergi to me. Body length, including tail, is typically 55-60 cm, which is a fair bit bigger than your estimate (but is similar to a Common Buzzard of the race vulpinus) and the plumage and structure are spot on. It doesn't look like a Dickinson's Kestrel, which has a mainly slate-grey body and is typically falcon-like, but with a "large" head. Wahlberg's Eagle is common in KNP in summer (18-23 pairs per 100 square km; they start arriving in August) and is very variable in plumage.

Have a look at these links to the texts for Wahlberg's Eagle and Dickinson's Kestrel from the forthcoming Roberts VII:

http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/fitzpatrick/docs/r135.html

http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/fitzpatrick/docs/r185.html

I hope that helps.

Cheers

Paul
 
Hi all,

Two threads have been merged here; my fault, must have been sleeping when I posted mine :) ; I hope this helps.

Best to re-read the thread!

Thanks for bailing me out, Larry!

Regards,

Andy.
 
Andrew Rowlands said:
(Why doesn't Wahlberg's come up in the results when I search for Hieraaetus? - mental note to ask the site techies....).
Click to expand...
Just been reading this thread out of interest. The reason Wahlberg's doesn't come up is that the scientific name is Aquila wahlbergi (latest S&M). I don't think the information box is searched.
 
pete woodall said:
Hi Andy

I don't think that it is Dickinson's Kestrel, as suggested with your first posting. The jizz is all wrong for that.

I'll stick my neck out and suggest a (very) pale phase of Wahlberg's Eagle. There are illustrations in SASOL and Roberts that look similar to your bird but have a dark smudge through the eye. I'm guessing that this mark could disappear in an even paler phase.

It would be useful to know whether it had a feathered tarsus (=Aquila eagle) or not).

Pete
Click to expand...

Too small for Wahlberg's Eagle. This looks like a mature bird at about 30cm.

Doug
 
Hi Everyone

There seems to be no resolution on this id yet!

I'd make a couple of comments. The Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus has not been recorded in South Africa, it is only a vagrant to North Africa (eg Lybia) so it
is very unlikely in SA.
I've seen many Steppe Buzzards in Africa and this bird doesn't look like any I've seen.

In his last posting, TwoBoy states that it was 30 cm (?long). This would knock out all suggestions to date except for the Dickinson's Kestrel suggested by TwoBoy. To me,
neither this id nor the suggested length seem possible.

Another possibility is the Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus. I've never seen this bird,
it's reported as a summer vagrant to NW southern Africa. Does its head ever get as pale as the bird photographed? It's also large at 50-66 cm.

My money is still on a pale Wahlberg's, which, as Paul pointed out, is common in Kruger
and has very variable plumage from very dark to very pale phases.

Pete
 
pete woodall said:
Hi Everyone

There seems to be no resolution on this id yet!

I'd make a couple of comments. The Rough-legged Buzzard Buteo lagopus has not been recorded in South Africa, it is only a vagrant to North Africa (eg Lybia) so it
is very unlikely in SA.
I've seen many Steppe Buzzards in Africa and this bird doesn't look like any I've seen.

In his last posting, TwoBoy states that it was 30 cm (?long). This would knock out all suggestions to date except for the Dickinson's Kestrel suggested by TwoBoy. To me,
neither this id nor the suggested length seem possible.

Another possibility is the Long-legged Buzzard Buteo rufinus. I've never seen this bird,
it's reported as a summer vagrant to NW southern Africa. Does its head ever get as pale as the bird photographed? It's also large at 50-66 cm.

My money is still on a pale Wahlberg's, which, as Paul pointed out, is common in Kruger
and has very variable plumage from very dark to very pale phases.

Pete
Click to expand...

Pete

I am definitely right on the size +-5cm - definitely not 50cm or more. I base this on the fact I was pretty close so it was easy to more or less assume the size correctly.

Doug
 
Hello All

I have found another picture of this bird - more side on. How do I post it to you all. If interested in getting it send an email to me at

doug<at>truck.co.za

I also have another bird I cannot positively identify but I think Pete may be able to do so.

Doug
 
Last edited by a moderator:
TwoBoy said:
Hello All

I have found another picture of this bird - more side on. How do I post it to you all. If interested in getting it send an email to me at

doug<at>truck.co.za

I also have another bird I cannot positively identify but I think Pete may be able to do so.

Doug
Click to expand...

Hi Doug,

Best if you could post the pics as attachments to this thread....use the Advanced button to reply then find the Manage Attachments button....

Cheers,

Andy.

PS I'm changing your address - don't want you getting spammed by lurkers!
 
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