Golden Eagle in Western Ky?? (1 Viewer)

We have had Hawkeye, as my DW has named it hanging around our house all summer. It seems he? is alone. We are in Paducah KY, and the maps I have seen do not indicate this as normal habitat - or even close.

We do not live in city limits, but the neighbor across the street does! Our back yard includes a 50 acre field for crops and a 5 acre lake. The cleared area is surrounded by more forested areas.

This pic is out my back door. He is on a clothesline post about 6 ft off the ground and 15 ft from the house. Other perches include on top of a dump truck parked in the field for a week or two and atop power poles nearby.

I estimate his height at 12 - 18 inches.

The first pic, he is facing away from me, but head turned to look at me.
The second pic is a better shot of the beak profile.

That is a young Red-shouldered Hawk. Note the tail pattern (wide dark bands and thin pale bands). Golden Eagles are much, much larger with heftier bills.

The Bird Nuts said:

That is a young Red-shouldered Hawk. Note the tail pattern (wide dark bands and thin pale bands). Golden Eagles are much, much larger with heftier bills.

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I agree, a young Red-shouldered Hawk.

The Bird Nuts said:

That is a young Red-shouldered Hawk. Note the tail pattern (wide dark bands and thin pale bands). Golden Eagles are much, much larger with heftier bills.

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I agree, much larger bills relative to the head.

Niels

And just to put this into some sort of context, Golden Eagle would sit around 30 inches in height, head to tail, so very nearly double the size of a RSH.

Stu

Size aside this bird shows the distinct but subtle crest that is a feature of some species of this group:t:

Laurie -