Wahlberg Eagle ? (1 Viewer)

[Mpcwatts]

Hi
Saw this guy in Kruger NP , South Africa last fall. I think its a Whalbergs ?
UNiform light brown top, white underbelly
Thanks
mike

 

[tconzemi]

Bill looks too heavy for Wahlberg's, Steppe or dark Tawny for me
Does not look juvenile but rather second year with dark eye, rather long gape so Steppe may be the better option
Always difficult when sitting

 

[Tony Morris]

Did you see it flying? the very straight, narrow, parallel sided wings are a good character. I'm surprised Tom suggests Steppe, can they have white undertail coverts?

 

[Mpcwatts]

Did not see him fly.... Tawny was my other best.

 

[dolhijn]

Wahlbergs should have round nostrils, instead of ecliptic like tawny or steppe, hard to see on the picture however. Check my site for this species:

http://www.planetofbirds.com/accipitriformes-accipitridae-wahlbergs-eagle-hieraaetus-wahlbergi

 

[tconzemi]

I'm surprised Tom suggests Steppe, can they have white undertail coverts?

You mean like this one? http://www.tatzpit.com/site/en/pages/inPage.asp?catID=9&subID=12&subsubID=288

 

[Tony Morris]

No, I meant white, as in the photo above, not pale buff

 

[tconzemi]

No, I meant white, as in the photo above, not pale buff

I was not aware that there might be species differences between white and buff, can you give us some more details please, are you only referring to Wahlberg's with all white utc?
Always happy to learn something, this Steppe looks whitish at utc http://www.flickr.com/photos/graham_ekins_world_wildlife/6559800327/

 

[Tony Morris]

I wasn't making any judgement about what the species in the picture was. I asked a question. Can Steppe Eagles have pure white UTC's as in the picture, because I wasn't aware that they could and hadn't seen one like that. I haven't seen a light phase Wahlberg's either. Like you I'm was willing to learn something new.

 

[Valéry Schollaert]

I think it is a Tawny Eagle.

Some immature individuals can be very whitish...
http://birdwatchingmurcia.files.wor...sudhir-garg-tawny-eagle-front-view.jpg?w=1200

is it possible that it retained juvenile UTC?

 

[Mpcwatts]

The jaw line in my photo extends to the back of the eye, in the wahlbergs it looks to go to the middle of the eye. Ther seems to be several examples of steppe eagles with white under tail feathers in the comments and in web search photos.

I am leaning towards Steppe .... Thanks for all your help. This is my first try on this site ... Great fun !
Mike

 

[Tib78]

Hi all,

Well that's definitely not a Wahlberg's: too bulky; bill too powerfull. Really, ruling out this species isn't the issue here.
As Tom said this is an immature, probably 2cy (or possibly 3cy?). And it's either a Tawny or a Steppe.

The tail pattern might favour Steppe because most African Tawny eagles have a plainer tail in juvenile plumage (yet, can we be sure the tail is still juvenile on this image?). But on the other hand, the pattern of the lesser wing coverts is perhaps better for Tawny (the majority of 2cy Steppe shwo more uniform coverts without the paler fringes).

Is there any other image where the bill/head shape can be seen a little better? Even judging the gape length is very difficult on this image.

 

[Mpcwatts]

The only in focus picture unfortunately

 

[Tib78]

The only in focus picture unfortunately

If you have another picture where the bird is showing us its profile, it might be worth posting it, even if it's blurry.