KenM
Well-known member
Of course Butty….
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Raptors: Merritt Island, Florida (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter General Melchett
- Start date
birdmeister
Well-known member
Ken, I do see your point on the bill shape. Respectfully, though, the balance of features overwhelmingly favors Red-shouldered Hawk (RSHA) over Snail Kite (SNKI). Butty and Tom have already presented some important points, which I can only add to somewhat.
The dark throat I feel is very important and can't be put down to a photo artefact. Looking through many photos of SNKI, that species' pale cream to buffy throat stands out in all but the worst of lighting. I also support what they've said about barred secondaries, which I haven't found in SNKI (I think your linked photos showed barred coverts above the secondaries). The rest of the underpart pattern is right for Florida RSHA and not SNKI. Most RSHA have a messy pattern of streaks below, often fading to a near-whitish belly. SNKI markings are "Van Gogh"-like, heavy and long, and almost always reach at least to the legs with limited fading. Sibley's illustrations show the difference between the two species well. From what I can see in the OP's photos, the undertail is more or less pale throughout. Most SNKI have a well-visible pale base and dark outer half, but one can find many photos with variation so it's more of a minor supporting detail.
Finally, I see the point about photo angle and primary projection vs tail length. I don't think the OP's bird can be reconciled with SNKI, though, even accounting for that. Here are a couple of Macaulay Library photos to illustrate some points:
macaulaylibrary.org
This angle is not too dissimilar to the second image given in the OP's second set of photos (post #19). The pale throat is obvious, and the wings easily reach the tail tip at the very least. This is one of those photos where you could argue that the tail doesn't show a prominent dark outer half.
macaulaylibrary.org
This photo is also at a similar angle to the OP's photos. Even though the wingtips may appear to fall just short of the tail tips, the angle doesn't hide the fact that the ratio of tail length to primary projection is much more in SNKI than in RSHA.
The dark throat I feel is very important and can't be put down to a photo artefact. Looking through many photos of SNKI, that species' pale cream to buffy throat stands out in all but the worst of lighting. I also support what they've said about barred secondaries, which I haven't found in SNKI (I think your linked photos showed barred coverts above the secondaries). The rest of the underpart pattern is right for Florida RSHA and not SNKI. Most RSHA have a messy pattern of streaks below, often fading to a near-whitish belly. SNKI markings are "Van Gogh"-like, heavy and long, and almost always reach at least to the legs with limited fading. Sibley's illustrations show the difference between the two species well. From what I can see in the OP's photos, the undertail is more or less pale throughout. Most SNKI have a well-visible pale base and dark outer half, but one can find many photos with variation so it's more of a minor supporting detail.
Finally, I see the point about photo angle and primary projection vs tail length. I don't think the OP's bird can be reconciled with SNKI, though, even accounting for that. Here are a couple of Macaulay Library photos to illustrate some points:
ML211081651 Snail Kite Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML211081651; © Peter Fang/ Gloria Smith; Lee, Florida, United States
This angle is not too dissimilar to the second image given in the OP's second set of photos (post #19). The pale throat is obvious, and the wings easily reach the tail tip at the very least. This is one of those photos where you could argue that the tail doesn't show a prominent dark outer half.
ML194924451 Snail Kite Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML194924451; © LynnErla Beegle; Volusia, Florida, United States
This photo is also at a similar angle to the OP's photos. Even though the wingtips may appear to fall just short of the tail tips, the angle doesn't hide the fact that the ratio of tail length to primary projection is much more in SNKI than in RSHA.
lgonz1008
Well-known member
General feedback from a Florida birder, outside of the migration months, 90% of the Buteos seen within Merritt Island NWR are Red-shouldered Hawk (both Florida and migratory subs.).
Snail Kite is an uncommon to rare resident within Florida that specializes exclusively in freshwater habitats in the most inland portions of the peninsula. The few reports of Snail Kite in Merritt Island are historical (when the population was greater) or vagrant birds.
And to confirm what everyone else already has guessed previously, the Buteo in the picture is an immature Red-shouldered Hawk, they are thankfully plentiful within Florida and the youngster in the picture was part of the new generation when the shot was taken.
Snail Kite is an uncommon to rare resident within Florida that specializes exclusively in freshwater habitats in the most inland portions of the peninsula. The few reports of Snail Kite in Merritt Island are historical (when the population was greater) or vagrant birds.
And to confirm what everyone else already has guessed previously, the Buteo in the picture is an immature Red-shouldered Hawk, they are thankfully plentiful within Florida and the youngster in the picture was part of the new generation when the shot was taken.
