Hawk in Wayne County, North Carolina, USA (1 Viewer)

P

pusser_uk

Guest

• Mar 3, 2013

• #1

I wonder if someone can help me with this hawk. Still learning about all the birds over this side of the pond.
I got this shot from half way down my yard. My camera was at full 18x zoom and I have had to lighten it up a bit to see some detail. I have been trying to make a positive ID using Enature.com but many of the photos there are so small as to make it difficult to be sure.

 

Attachments

• 
  DSCF8435b_resize.jpg

  336.6 KB · Views: 164

The Falcon

Registered Birder

• Mar 3, 2013

• #2

It's a Red-tailed Hawk.

 

rwblackbird57

Well-known member

• Mar 3, 2013

• #3

Agree

 

The Falcon

Registered Birder

• Mar 3, 2013

• #4

To correct my above post... it is actually a Red-shouldered Hawk.

 

P

pusser_uk

Guest

• Mar 4, 2013

• #5

OK, so.... I have Red Tailed and an agreement and then a change to Red Shouldered. Thanks Guys. lol I AM much the wiser. haha
What is the difinitive identifying feature that sets the two apart?

 

F

fugl

Well-known member

• Mar 4, 2013

• #6

pusser_uk said:

What is the difinitive identifying feature that sets the two apart?

Click to expand...

Red-tails generally have a dark belly band which this bird lacks.

 

Last edited: Mar 4, 2013

C

ceasar

Well-known member

• Mar 4, 2013

• #7

Yes, I note that you are from the UK.

As Fugl notes the lack of a "belly band" in a raptor seen perched like this one will, in most cases, eliminate it from being a Red-tail. A back view, of course would show other field marks including it's red tail except if it were a juvenile.

Perhaps up to 40% of the Hawks you will see in North America will be Red-tails. The usual identification procedure when seeing a raptor is first to eliminate the possibility that it is a Red-tail. Then you can move on to others. It gets a little harder after that but with experience and familiarizing yourself with their field marks you will be able to ID North American raptors better.

A good field guide is The Peterson Field Guide to "Hawks of North America" by Clark and Wheeler.

Bob

 

C

cavan wood

Well-known member

• Mar 4, 2013

• #8

On this specimen you can also see relatively wide bands on the tail (more narrow on a young red-tailed), and the streaking is heaviest on the upper breast, which is usually lightly marked in red-tailed and more heavily marked on the belly (belly band). From the back or side, this bird would also likely show light barring on the secondaries and coverts.