Bird-of-prey? - Brooklyn Bridge, New York, September 2017 (1 Viewer)

AntonBE · Dec 21, 2017

Hey everyone. In September while walking over the brooklyn bridge and looking at gulls I noticed a brown bird that was much larger and had very straight wings, flying low over the water. I don't really have much of a clue as of what it could be, except perhaps a bird-of-prey of some description?

The pictures are very blurry and taken from far away so a definite ID is probably hard, but the general shape of the bird I feel is quite characteristic, I just can't quite put my finger on it.
Gulls and Pigeons should provide a decent sense of scale!

Pinewood · Dec 21, 2017

Hello Anton,

It could be a juvenile bald eagle.
There are bald eagles, which are fishers, in New York City, which I have seen twice. See

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle/id

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :hi:

The Bird Nuts · Dec 21, 2017

Looks like an immature gull to me.

RafaelMatias · Dec 21, 2017

The Bird Nuts said:
Looks like an immature gull to me.

And to me.

nartreb · Dec 21, 2017

Looks like a young gull to me too. Color pattern isn't good for eagle but matches the other gull at bottom right corner in the first picture.

Also, a bald eagle would have at least a seven foot wingspan. That's about double the size of the largest gull. Should be really obvious in a photo like this where all the birds are near the water surface.

(Is that a pigeon at left in first photo, or a gull with wings foreshortened?)

Cinereous · Dec 21, 2017

Horizontal wings and upturned wingtips.. Its not a gull.. Looks like a buteo.. Probably a Redtail hawk..

MTem · Dec 21, 2017

Cinereous said:
Horizontal wings and upturned wingtips.. Its not a gull.. Looks like a buteo.. Probably a Redtail hawk..

It's just mid flap I think - I'm in the first winter Larus camp. Uniform brown colouration to me suggests AHG.
Looks to be another in the bottom right of photo 1

Cinereous · Dec 21, 2017

MTem said:
It's just mid flap I think - I'm in the first winter Larus camp. Uniform brown colouration to me suggests AHG.
Looks to be another in the bottom right of photo 1

I can't say I've seen a gull with upturned wingtips midflap or not. Primaries are usually to short and stiff...

stevethehydra · Dec 21, 2017

I'm seeing pointed, unfingered wings and much more of a head projection than any bird of prey in the size range. Another for juvenile large Larus sp, most likely smithsonianus I guess in NYC.

MTem · Dec 21, 2017

Cinereous said:
I can't say I've seen a gull with upturned wingtips midflap or not. Primaries are usually to short and stiff...

I know what you mean as most of the time gulls are in fairly relaxed flight, but when actively manoeuvring like here then they bend upwards.... a few examples...

Mick

Microtus · Dec 21, 2017

stevethehydra said:
I'm seeing pointed, unfingered wings and much more of a head projection than any bird of prey in the size range. Another for juvenile large Larus sp, most likely smithsonianus I guess in NYC.

Another for (American) Herring Gull.

AntonBE · Dec 21, 2017

All of this makes a lot of sense, thanks all for the ID! I'm glad I'm not the only one who took it as something different entirely at first, though.

Bird-of-prey? - Brooklyn Bridge, New York, September 2017 (1 Viewer)

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