ID bird of prey/Berlin Germany (1 Viewer)

Valéry Schollaert said:

And I repeat, even if this is proven that the bird you refer is an Eurasian Sparrowhawk, it is not a reason to confuse someone who might want to learn and destroy the basic identification feature, such Accipiter in Europe with stripes is a young goshawk.

If you disagree, you have to make a comment to all posts sharing identification and say "except in albino", "except in melanistic", "except in an atypical individual seen once 68 years ago", etc. Good luck.

Click to expand...

smiths said:

As Forsman also mentioned in response to the Scilly hawk, it is not that exceptional to see juv. Eurasian Sparrowhawks with fairly extensive streaking on underparts.

I attach one that I photographed in Armenia on 9 Oct 2013.
Its breast and belly are streaked; barring is restricted to the lower flanks.

Click to expand...

Brett Richards said:

If you knew there were exceptions then you should have said 'nearly always' instead of 'always'. If you didn't know, then you have learnt something.

This is my last post on this matter. I see no point in pursuing this further with someone who won't admit that their original statement was inaccurate.

Brett

Click to expand...

P.Sunesen said:

Agree that the streaking on the UPPERbreast is not unusual (as even Tom Jones would proclaim) for JUVENILE Sparrowhawks, particularly males often show such markings.

From handling hundreds of Sparrowhawks throughout 37 years as a taxidermist, this feature is well known.
All Sparrowhawks have some barring on the underparts, however.

So the difference between A. nisus and juvenile A. gentilis as regards this feature is still as valid as ever.

PS:
A much more rare occurrence is that of a particularly dark juvenile type of Sparrowhawk.
The ground colour of the underparts then approaching that of a juvenile Montagus Harrier.
This variation is - again - mostly seen in males. My estimate is that I've seen 6-8 such "dusky" ones (of which just one or two were females).

Peter

Click to expand...

Valéry Schollaert said:

Yes, and birds shown by Smith are not exceptions on that point indeed. They are not usual, but still very identifiable.

What a mess out of nothing! For the OP, you can just skip most of the comments, your bird is nicely striped, not barred below (or mixed barred / striped giving dirty spotted aspect), and this is giving you a Goshawk. Basta.

Click to expand...

KenM said:

On the subject of Accipters, if anyone can answer (FWIW Imm.A.gentilis for me), can immature/2nd calendar year A.gentilis show any hint of warmth, orange tint to the underwing coverts and breast...a serious question?

Cheers

Click to expand...

Valéry Schollaert said:

They can !

Click to expand...