Thanks to Andy for bringing the case to my attention.
To me this is no doubt an adult Wahlberg's Eagle, definitely not Booted, nor Lesser Spot.
The rather narrow wings with parallel edges, the relatively long "fingers" and square wing-tip, the longish and narrow tail and the long legs (with yellow toes reaching almost to the tips of the undertail coverts) are key features in a typical Wahlberg's silhouette. The very dark and uniform body plumage nicely fits dark individuals of this species, as do the rather plain-looking remiges and rectrices, save for a wider dark subterminal band, also typical.
A Golden would probably show golden sides to neck and the shape of the wings is too rectangular and wing-tip too square, underwing pattern also not fitting any plumage of Golden. Silhouette/structure alone differs enough to exclude both Booted and Les Spot and it is easy to find several distinctive plumage features to add.
Wahlberg's Eagle is a highly variable species with anything from nearly white to black birds, uniformly brown being the most common. The shape is diagnostic, once familiar with the species, and the underwing remiges tend to look very uniform, lacking distinct markings. Most birds, including this, show a lighter area at the base of the outer primaries, but this may be rather indistinct.
It could well be that Wahlberg's have been overlooked in the past as it is difficult to believe that they would suddenly have become so much more common in N Africa, with several records now pending since the first was seen in Egypt only a few years ago. Where will the next one turn up?
To me this is no doubt an adult Wahlberg's Eagle, definitely not Booted, nor Lesser Spot.
The rather narrow wings with parallel edges, the relatively long "fingers" and square wing-tip, the longish and narrow tail and the long legs (with yellow toes reaching almost to the tips of the undertail coverts) are key features in a typical Wahlberg's silhouette. The very dark and uniform body plumage nicely fits dark individuals of this species, as do the rather plain-looking remiges and rectrices, save for a wider dark subterminal band, also typical.
A Golden would probably show golden sides to neck and the shape of the wings is too rectangular and wing-tip too square, underwing pattern also not fitting any plumage of Golden. Silhouette/structure alone differs enough to exclude both Booted and Les Spot and it is easy to find several distinctive plumage features to add.
Wahlberg's Eagle is a highly variable species with anything from nearly white to black birds, uniformly brown being the most common. The shape is diagnostic, once familiar with the species, and the underwing remiges tend to look very uniform, lacking distinct markings. Most birds, including this, show a lighter area at the base of the outer primaries, but this may be rather indistinct.
It could well be that Wahlberg's have been overlooked in the past as it is difficult to believe that they would suddenly have become so much more common in N Africa, with several records now pending since the first was seen in Egypt only a few years ago. Where will the next one turn up?
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