Raptor ID- Camargue Region France (1 Viewer)

[Tucson Birder]

Hello folks, I got this distant photo of a raptor not far from Saintes Marie de la Mer in the Camargue. Can anyone pin down the ID? I was thinking Short-toed Snake Eagle but from what I can tell, Common Buzzard can be quite similar. The head appears fairly large to me. Of course, this being my first trip to the region from the US, I could be way off base anyway. Thanks in advance! Sharon

 

[stevo]

Common buzzard to my eyes.

 

[fdokykcu]

I'd say Short-Toed Snake Eagle for this one

 

[Sangahyando]

Ventral pattern seems fairly typical for a buzzard from this angle. Are there any more pictures?

 

[Ratal]

Bib, barring, colour, stance, all point Short Toed Snake Eagle.

 

[Ratal]

Yep. Lightening the pic it's a shoe in for STS Eagle.

 

[Butty]

Lightening the pic it's a shoe in for . . .

. . . a strikingly-normal common buzzard.

 

[Butty]

Bib, barring, colour, stance, all point Short Toed Snake Eagle.

One could (try to) make a case (wrongly) for the bib, but to to contend that any or all of barring, colour or stance are good for short-toed eagle and (necessarily by implication) wrong for common buzzard is, well, wrong.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Hi Sharon,

I'd agree with Common buzzard - STE has a disproportionately large headed appearance, and I think I'm correct in saying it is one of the few raptors which shows a yellow iris from birth - this also leads the bird to having a "wide-eyed" appearance even at a distance - CB is more typical in that younger birds have a darker iris (like your bird). The barring on CB is variable, but too heavy here for STE. The white V on the chest is also a feature shown by CB but not by STE. Here is a typical dark CB in similar pose whilst here is a STE.

 

[Richard Dale]

It is a common buzzard, but you can't see the iris here as the bird is facing directly away from the camera.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

It is a common buzzard, but you can't see the iris here as the bird is facing directly away from the camera.

Interesting, I thought it was directly facing the camera, but on enlarging the image you are quite correct.

 

[Valéry Schollaert]

Not sure if some still have doubts but it is definitly a Common Buzzard indeed.

 

[Tucson Birder]

Thank you all- of course I was hoping for the STSE, but will take Common Buzzard. I'm fairly competent with raptor ID in my home region of SE Arizona, but well out of my comfort zone with European species. Thanks for all of the input. I'll be back home in Arizona watching Gray Hawks, Harris' Hawks and maybe a Short-tailed Hawk next week.

 

[Tucson Birder]

Ventral pattern seems fairly typical for a buzzard from this angle. Are there any more pictures?

That was the best (heavily cropped) photo I had.

 

[lockbreeze926]

It's a Buzzard, but it's "shoo-in".

On a related note, a shoeing is something very different, be it related to people or horses.

 

[Tucson Birder]

Another question- does Common Buzzard always have a yellow cere? Not relevant to this photo, but I was looking at photos of both species on the web and that seemed to be another difference.

 

[tconzemi]

Another question- does Common Buzzard always have a yellow cere?

Yes