San Francisco, CA. Hawk? (1 Viewer)

M

mrtn

New member

• Aug 16, 2010

• #1

This fellow was sitting outside my window for a while, it was quite large and I'm curious to find out what bird it is. Anyone?

 

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Larry Lade

Moderator

• Aug 16, 2010

• #2

Seems like about 95 percent of the hawks I see are usually Red-tailed Hawks. They are so variable that sometimes they might appear to be something else! However, your picture has a few things that indicate to me that this might be something a little bit different. The apparent large size, the feathered legs, the large bill and long gape got me to thinking that this might be a Ferruginous Hawk. I will watching this thread to see what others have to say about the ID of this bird.

 

jmorlan

Hmmm. That's funny

Opus Editor

• Aug 16, 2010

• #3

It's a Red-tailed Hawk. There are lots of reasons it's not a Ferruginous but one point is that only the tibia is feathered. The tarsus is unfeathered and yellow.

 

RJP

Well-known member

• Aug 16, 2010

• #4

Another point is that a Ferruginous would have a longer gape. I agree with Red-tailed.

 

Larry Lade

Moderator

• Aug 16, 2010

• #5

Yeah, probably a RTHA ... the bill looked a bit large to me, and the gape seemed to extend farther back on this bird than it does on most RTHAs that I see. * Also, some of the FEHA photos I "googled" did not show the feathering tarsus. Could the tarsus be "lightly feathered" with compact, whitish feathers (the toes appear yellow, but the tarsus seems whitish (perhaps "photographic artifact")).

* Given the urban location though, a RTHA would be the most likely candidate!