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Costa Rica ID help please (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Firetail
- Start date
JWN Andrewes
Poor Judge of Pasta.
Certainly is. Excellent picture of a great bird, and one that I imagine is quite difficult to photograph.
James
James
Black Wheatear
Bowed but not broken, yet!
Very nice pic. But don't you think JWN Andrewes looks too young to be on here?
Rasmus Boegh
BF member
It's a juv. Bicoloured Hawk (Accipiter bicolor). Juveniles of this species are quite variable, with underparts and collar ranging from deep buff (almost cinnamon) to pure white. It commonly cause confusion, and I've seen very experianced Neotropical birders mistaking it for various other species. Notice the yellow eyes (dark brownish is Collared FF), pattern on cheeks & auriculars (dark line encircling the pale auricular in the Collared FF), relatively narrow ring of skin around the eye (noticeably broader in all FF's), skin on lores is rather bright yellow (duller, more greenish-yellow in Collared FF), and white bars only on inner webs of the rectrices (white on both webs in the Collared FF). Other differences that perhaps are harder to use for people without previous experiance in the discussed species is the relatively fine bill (stubbier in the Collared FF) and the relatively short tail (longer in the Collared FF). Separating the various Neotropical Accipiter's and Micrastur's has often been greatly underestimated (in part due to a number of widely quoted mistakes, which only slowly are being corrected with new publications).
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tomjenner
Well-known member
Rasmus is absolutely right. To be honest, I looked at the photo and I scrolled down to confirm Collared Forest-Falcon. It was only when I reached Rasmus's mention of Bicolored Hawk that I realised my mistake (which is pretty bad considering that I have been studying an Accipiter species for the past 7 years). A photo of a Collared Forest-Falcon would have been nice enough, but a Bicolored Hawk is a major rarity and a really great bird to see, let along photograph so well. I have been birding actively in Central America for the past 8 years and I have only ever seen one.
I have a photo database of birds of Northern Central America on my website and there is a big gap where there should be a photo of this species. Derek, would it be cheeky if I asked if I can have a copy to use on my website?
Tom
I have a photo database of birds of Northern Central America on my website and there is a big gap where there should be a photo of this species. Derek, would it be cheeky if I asked if I can have a copy to use on my website?
Tom
JWN Andrewes
Poor Judge of Pasta.
Firetail
Registered Member
Firetail
Registered Member
tomjenner
Well-known member
Rasmus Boegh
BF member
.. and just to illustrate that these species often cause confusion, people might want to take a look at the photo currently featured on the page for the Collared Forest Falcon (I'll correct it tomorrow, but for now it might be of interest to anyone seeking a bit of insight into the identification of the members of this group):
http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Collared_Forest_Falcon
EDIT: Now corrected. The photo previously featured on the above page can now be seen here:
http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Barred_Forest_Falcon
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Firetail
Registered Member
Thanks Rasmus. I have posted another for id, can you help please?
