Short-tailed Hawk, light morph? (1 Viewer)

[chrispie]

I need some help in identifying a hawk I've seen in our neighborhood here in Florida the past few weeks. All reference books I've read state that the short-tailed hawk (light morph) is the only hawk with a while underbelly. So I am reasonably sure that's what I'm seeing. It is not too common here, however, so I question my identification (also, I'm fairly new to birding). Does anyone have a good photo of this bird? The photos I've seen in my field guides are not that clear. Also, has anyone else observed this bird in Central Florida, near the Halifax River? I wish I had a good camera to take a photo myself, but mine won't cut it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[passavy]

Hi Chrispie!

Be aware of light juvenile broad-winged hawk (as in Sibley's Guide) that is very similar to short-tailed hawk. The two ID criteria are the dark secondaries and, in a lesser extent, the plain brown sides of the neck. You can see a picture I shot in january in the Everglades at this address :
http://pagesperso.laposte.net/collekinsectes/galleries/floride/10-4.jpg
Regards

Guillaume

 

[chrispie]

Thanks for the picture, Guillaume. That doesn't look like the same bird to me. Unfortunately, I never saw it in flight. He stayed perched at the top of a tree. I'm not good at describing the different features, but I'll give it a try. As I mentioned, his front was solid white. He looked more like he had a dark mask on as opposed to the larger brown area by his eyes in your photo. He did have a patch of brown at the top of his otherwise white head. Eyes looked yellow. I will try to observe him some more and perhaps try to sketch what I'm seeing. My son will be here in a week, and he has a better camera. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get a photo for accurate identification.

 

[Motmot]

Here´s a pic of a Florida Short-tailed Hawk to compare

http://www.southfloridabirding.com/assets/images/Short-tailed_Hawk.jpg

 

[chrispie]

Here´s a pic of a Florida Short-tailed Hawk to compare

Thanks for the additional photo. Now I'm not so sure it is a short-tailed hawk because the head was more white with just a dark mask around the eyes and a little bit of brown on the top of its head. Back to square one in IDing him. I appreciate the input. I'll try to get a better description of it.

 

[OK Birder]

Hello Chrispie

Any chance this is an osprey? Maybe an immature bird that would have some streaking on the head?

Lyn

 

[Home Bird]

Here's a quick and easy way to see a lot of images of a bird, if you have a name:

http://images.google.com/images?q="short+tailed+hawk"&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

This is a Google images search for "short tailed hawk".

Now here's the same search for "red tailed hawk":

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q="red+tailed+hawk"&btnG=Search

Do you see your bird? If not, try a couple of other hawks that are known to be in your area.

Good luck!

 

[chrispie]

Any chance this is an osprey? Maybe an immature bird that would have some streaking on the head?

That was my next guess, Lyn. I've never seen an ospry here in the neighborhood, but there are plenty around since we're so close to the ocean. I'm hoping I can spot it again and again to get a better ID. Thanks for your input. If I am able to get a good photo, I'll be sure to post it here.