Eagle from North Greece, Jan 07 (1 Viewer)

For all raptors experts: Help me identify this Eagle, from Greece

Spotted Eagle or Lesser Spotted Eagle?

Thank you in advance

My guess would be a young (age = ???) Lesser Spotted Eagle due to short final primary-finger (what primary is that?).

Agree with Alex. Enhanced pic of flying bird attached. Note comma feature on wing as well as length of fingers. But I'm not a raptor expert and I am worried by the date. Lesser spotted eagle is much the commoner species but is a summer visitor? Interested to see what European raptor experts think.

Graham

bitterntwisted said:

Agree with Alex. Enhanced pic of flying bird attached. Note comma feature on wing as well as length of fingers. But I'm not a raptor expert and I am worried by the date. Lesser spotted eagle is much the commoner species but is a summer visitor? Interested to see what European raptor experts think.

Graham

Click to expand...

Not expert- but I would go for Greater despite the rather stubby looking primaries. Pro Greater features include dark underwing coverts, pale wedge on innner primaries (result of the barring fading towards tip). Also of course location and date- but that should only be a strong factor I guess.

Why do primares look short? Maybe because bird is in very active flight rather than soaring and the tips are being bent up as wings are on the downstroke.

agree on the location/ date bit. If I remember correctly lesser is the commoner species in the region, but doesn't tend to arrive in the area til April or so whereas greater can be encountered in smaller numbers during the winter (I may be wrong on this point). So my money's on greater.

On photographic evidence I have to be honest and say I could go with either!

James

ed keeble said:

Not expert- but I would go for Greater despite the rather stubby looking primaries. Pro Greater features include dark underwing coverts, pale wedge on innner primaries (result of the barring fading towards tip). Also of course location and date- but that should only be a strong factor I guess.

Why do primares look short? Maybe because bird is in very active flight rather than soaring and the tips are being bent up as wings are on the downstroke.

Click to expand...

The so called 'final finger' as Alex refers to is p7 counted from outside which is usually shorter in Lesser Spotted, but not easy to see in certain images, so warning for use of this character alone!
The age of this eagle is certainly at least 3cy (January) due to the irregular trailing edge and tail. In 2cy autumn usually p1-5 new, and S1-2 & S5-S6 new darker and longer than the old ones. In the lower wing it seems as S3, 4 & 5 are longer which also seems to be the case on the upper wing but due to the quallity of the image I´m NOT sure of this, thus if age is correct.
Howerver in the flying bird it looks like a Greater, due to longer p7 (note the different appearance in upper wing) and darker lesser and median coverts (which some Lessers also can show) and to a certain extent the single whitish 'comma' at the base of the outer primaries but note that there´s a second whitish 'comma' on the base of the prmary coverts just as in Lesser Spotted.
In perched bird the lack of contrast between greater and lesser coverts with unbarred secondaries (some inners looks barred though) indicates Greater.

http://www.tarsiger.com/index.php?p...Greater+Spotted+Eagle,+Aquila+clanga&lang=eng

http://www.tarsiger.com/index.php?p...esser+Spotted+Eagle,+Aquila+pomarina&lang=eng


JanJ

Greater Spotted for me also. It has moulted P1-3(4 also probably), S4 and T1 so it can be tentatively aged as C3. Now the bird showed probably too many pale spots for a C3 Lesser Spotted. This combined with 7 fingers, strong shape and dark underwing coverts lead to Greater Spotted.

Definately a Greater Eagle for me. Lesser Spotted Eagles don't overwinter very frequently in Greece (if at all) and are in general less bulky and have more 'S' curved wings.

Cheers!

Dimitris

PS: Greater Spotted Eagle is proving to be a regular winter visitor now days to Greece. Seems that every decent wetland area in Greece has at least one and Evros hosted a pale ('fluvescerns" ?? Spelling?) type bird for about a month...

'that' fulvescens passed the danube delta yesterday. maybe.