Rough-legged Hawk? Ottawa, ON (1 Viewer)

I went out birding with a coworker today who seemed positive that these were rough-legged hawks (we saw 3 potential rough-legs and about seven red-tails!). I have never seen one before, and took several pictures. I didn't get a long enough look through the binoculars to confirm the identity, and was wondering if it was possible to id the bird through these pictures.

This is the first bird - it was being chased by an American Crow which I've left in the first photo for size comparison.

This is the second suspect, which stayed perched in the tree the whole time. I didn't want to get any closer and spook it!

Yep, Rough-legged Hawks.

~neil

I agree, Rough-legged Hawks. Here are a few things to look at for the ID. In the flying bird, you can see the dark inner wing and lighter primaries and secondaries. Also, I think I see a hint of a dark carpal patch on one of the flying photos, which is a good mark for RL.

In the sitting bird, you're really only trying to differentiate it from a Red-Tailed Hawk. So for starters, the tail doesn't look like a Red-Taileds; you can see it has a wide dark band at the end and is white at the base. Next, look at how far down the tail the wings extend. Rough-Legged Hawk wings extend to the end of the tail, or past it. Third, if this were Red-Tailed Hawk, you typically get something of a V-impression created by the dark wings and slightly lighter back. In this bird, there is no V apparent. Also, in the photo where the bird is looking back at you, the head doesn't give a hooded look that a Red-Tail would show.

Based on all that, I'd say you have a Rough-legged Hawk, and something of a dark bird. Dark morphs are a little less common than light morphs, if memory serves.

Andy - Newark, Ca

Second bird for sure. The first bird looks very small. When i saw a Rough-legged Hawk in the UK it looked twice the size of a crow and i know our crow and your crow are much for muchness.

Thanks everyone! Andy, your explanation is helpful - I was pretty sure it wasn't a red-tailed hawk (no diagnostic V or hooded look), but I wasn't sure what other possibilities were out there.

No problem, Gilliam. I grew up in Michigan before moving out west to California. I love to go back. We have rough-legged hawks out here, but you have to search long and far to find them. Michigan and Ontario are great places for birding...especially like Point Pelee and the little gem of Holiday Beach, which gets too little coverage due to its proximity to Point Pelee. Good birding!

Andy - newark, Ca