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huge black bird with yellow beak (2 Viewers)

A

archerbuckeb3

New member
Hi, I live in western Maine, very rural area. I have miles of woods around me, lakes and ponds (I live in Lakes Region area named for our many lakes) plus a large mowed lawn (2 acres) and another couple acres of cow pasture next door, beyond that are many miles of forest on both sides of my street. I'm thinking this bird prefers woods or lawn or both because that's what is directly around my house and I've seen him around sporadically for the past month or so in flight, usually flying over the house or on the edge of the woods. I thought it was a turkey vulture. This morning it landed right outside my back door maybe 20' from the house, it's really large like a 3' wing span, one of the largest wingspans I've ever seen. It is solid black like a crow or raven all over its body, no other colors, a deep black. But, it has a large yellow beak that curves downward. It was so cool to see it swoop down so close, but I have no idea what it is and can't seem to find the info online after trying a search. Anybody else have any ideas? I looked at Great Cormorant, somebody suggested it might be on a previous post and that is definitely not it, the body shape is all wrong. This had the shape of a crow or raven or vulture, no crook neck or mottled coloring or anything like that. Just an odd looking raven type bird with yellow beak that was turned downward.
 
AS I said mine are purely guess work as I do not live in the USA and was only going from my USA species book looking for a similar bird from the description
 
Maybe a sub-adult II Bald Eagle? They can have yellow bills and are predominately black but their wing span would be around 7 feet instead of 3 feet.

Bob
 
I was also thinking young bald Eagle.
Welcome to the forum on behalf of the staff and moderators! Glad to have you with us.
 
archerbuckeb3 said:
Hi, I live in western Maine, very rural area. I have miles of woods around me, lakes and ponds (I live in Lakes Region area named for our many lakes) plus a large mowed lawn (2 acres) and another couple acres of cow pasture next door, beyond that are many miles of forest on both sides of my street. I'm thinking this bird prefers woods or lawn or both because that's what is directly around my house and I've seen him around sporadically for the past month or so in flight, usually flying over the house or on the edge of the woods. I thought it was a turkey vulture. This morning it landed right outside my back door maybe 20' from the house, it's really large like a 3' wing span, one of the largest wingspans I've ever seen. It is solid black like a crow or raven all over its body, no other colors, a deep black. But, it has a large yellow beak that curves downward. It was so cool to see it swoop down so close, but I have no idea what it is and can't seem to find the info online after trying a search. Anybody else have any ideas? I looked at Great Cormorant, somebody suggested it might be on a previous post and that is definitely not it, the body shape is all wrong. This had the shape of a crow or raven or vulture, no crook neck or mottled coloring or anything like that. Just an odd looking raven type bird with yellow beak that was turned downward.
Click to expand...
Oh my gosh!! I don't know if you still monitor this site but I believe you're bird had come yo Gray and is flying over my house!

I've been searching for anything that can tell me what this bird is and can't done anything close!! It is giant and all black with the yellow beak and soars so high but has lived close by for at least 2 years now. Have you heard it's call? This is what prompted my search is that it sounds like a bark, or honk of some kind. It's definitely not any kind of goose but sounds similar. Not like a crow caw or raven croak. It's driving me nuts.

Occasionally I see a large hawk or eagle up high soaring with it but this could also be a male and female of the same bird. The lighter colored one is a bit smaller.
 
Locacabana said:
Oh my gosh!! I don't know if you still monitor this site but I believe you're bird had come yo Gray and is flying over my house!

I've been searching for anything that can tell me what this bird is and can't done anything close!! It is giant and all black with the yellow beak and soars so high but has lived close by for at least 2 years now. Have you heard it's call? This is what prompted my search is that it sounds like a bark, or honk of some kind. It's definitely not any kind of goose but sounds similar. Not like a crow caw or raven croak. It's driving me nuts.

Occasionally I see a large hawk or eagle up high soaring with it but this could also be a male and female of the same bird. The lighter colored one is a bit smaller.
Click to expand...
I'm just going to jump in here and wish you a warm welcome from those of us on staff here at BirdForum (y)
We're glad you found us and please join in wherever you like ;)
 
If the beak is really obvious and very yellow, then an eagle seems likely. There are plenty of bald eagles in Maine (and they like lakes), though this time of year Golden eagle is possible too. Young bald eagles will have raggedy patches of white on their undersides; older ones have darker bodies but their heads and tails turn white.

But I wouldn't rule out a hawk. Dark-morph red-tailed hawk is the most common.
 
Locacabana said:
Oh my gosh!! I don't know if you still monitor this site but I believe you're bird had come yo Gray and is flying over my house!

I've been searching for anything that can tell me what this bird is and can't done anything close!! It is giant and all black with the yellow beak and soars so high but has lived close by for at least 2 years now. Have you heard it's call? This is what prompted my search is that it sounds like a bark, or honk of some kind. It's definitely not any kind of goose but sounds similar. Not like a crow caw or raven croak. It's driving me nuts.

Occasionally I see a large hawk or eagle up high soaring with it but this could also be a male and female of the same bird. The lighter colored one is a bit smaller.
Click to expand...
I'd say bald eagle but there's a few factors that can't be confirmed. The bird seen had a yellow beak and has large wings. From a brief search on google, I'd think that red-tailed hawk could be ruled out as there is very little yellow on the beak from what I'm seeing in pictures. Bald eagles have a large yellow beak and are very large which fits the description. However a golden eagle is not out of the question. A picture of any sort would make it a bit easier. Did the bird have a white head?
 
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