Long-legged Buzzard? Dhaka, December 2020 (1 Viewer)

[Seth Miller]

I've been on my rooftop the last two afternoons hoping for Himalayan Griffon as those pass through this time of year (no luck on these yet), but today I got a buzzard which will be species #81 for my "yard" list.
Possibly Long-legged, but I have so little experience with buzzards that I would much appreciate confirmation or correction

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Not a definite answer, but if I would see this bird in Europe, I would id it as 1cy Rough legged Buzzard and didnt give it a closer look. They can have a little contrasting dark tail-band that is not obvious, like your bird.

So: if this is a Long-legged Buzzard or another species, I would like to learn from others. Thank you!

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

I am wondering... could it be an upland bussard?

 

[andyb39]

It's not an Upland Buzzard, which is a montane species, only undertaking short-distance migration and bulky and broad-winged with fully-feathered tarsi.

It doesn't feel like Long-legged either despite the long wings and large carpal patches - the strange pale yellow irides look wrong and the dark belly patch isn't extensive enough.

There have been reports of Eastern (Japanese?) Buzzard in the area - could this be one? This taxon normally has a moustachial and small carpal patches, but looks a better match than Long-legged. Hopefully jalid might comment on this one.

 

[tconzemi]

I don't know Asian buteos so no definite ID from me, but

• yellow or white iris is completely OK for juvenile Long-legged (known for their light eyes)
• tail looks rather plain from below which is also ok for LLB
• strange enough this juvenile bird seems to moult inner primaries in december, which means that it must be born very early this year, which again can only be true for Buzzards breeding in warm climate as LLB (and not for any buteo coming from the north or the mountains)
• overall plumage OK for LLB

 

[Deb Burhinus]

Why not Himalayan?

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Thank you to all, who replied so far. As I saw only one LLB before (and havent experience with far-eastern species), and got the jizz feeling, that the OP looks like a RLB on first sight and I would ID it as such without a prolonged view, your comments are very helpful to me.
There are two comparisons here:

Club300 Germany

club300.de

Club300 Germany

club300.de

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

Having checked Debs proposal of Himalayan, maybe that´s the best option , but I have no experience with that one...
What I don´t know: would Tom´s argument re moult fit for that one ?

... good idea to dig out that comparison, Alexander!

 

[Seth Miller]

Thanks for the input all!
Himalayan is definitely possible although we only have one confirmed (I think) record. Imo buzzards here are not carefully identified usually and very little study has been done. LLB are definitely around, but the only other buzzard on Bangladesh's national checklist is Eastern (following Birdlife taxonomy). Would love to see if a final ID can be confirmed, but asian buzzards are a mess and I have no clue on ID...

 

[Seth Miller]

If size is of any help this was very similar in size to a Black Kite it was with although I was not able to get shots with both for a size comparison unfortunately.

 

[andyb39]

Moult pattern aside (which I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment on) you look carefully at the 6th image, you can clearly see the long juvenile gapeline. I just checked images of juvenile LLB on OBI and Tom is quite right in saying juveniles of this species have pale golden eyes, which I confess I didn't know.

Looking at the images again, what strikes me this time is the rather eagle-like proportions, with long wings, and the amount of flex visible in the wings suggests the bird has deep wing-beats, something I associate with LLB. So I'm happy to concede to Tom's argument.

Would Himalayan stray so far from its breeding grounds? We're not even sure it reaches the south-west of India and Sri Lanka, never mind Bangladesh. Anyway, isn't it quite a small species, not long-winged like this individual?

 

[Seth Miller]

No comment on the ID, but at least according to eBird Bangladesh is much closer to Himalayan's range than Sri Lanka 🤔

 

[njlarsen]

We had a similar discussion recently: according to the Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp FG, Himalayan is supposed to reach S India.

Niels