Distant bird in flight - Southeastern Massachusetts (1 Viewer)

[Fmfoxx]

Pic taken today. Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[bhutjoe]

Hi, this appears to me to be a common nighthawk with the white bar on its wings. It looks a little plump and short tailed though for that, but that could be the angle of the photo. Also, the wings do not seem pointed at all. Glad to be corrected though
steve

 

[Butty]

Possibly red-shouldered hawk, given the shape and position of the (apparent) pale patch across the primaries - though I wouldn't expect it to look like this in such a view. I can't see a nighthawk looking like this. But photos lie.

 

[nartreb]

Crescents too strong for RSH. I'm on a very small screen but it looks like a Northern mockingbird from here.

 

[Butty]

Crescents too strong for RSH

Exactly.

looks like a Northern mockingbird

Good.

 

[Fandango739]

Any idea on the size of this bird?

 

[Dawsy]

Looks like a woodpecker to me. Red bellied?
Michael

 

[Butty]

Judging the size of a lone bird is notoriously unreliable. Far more useful to know how it flew, behaved, etc.

 

[birdmeister]

Red-bellied Woodpecker for me, too. Apparent white rump/uppertail and placement of those white patches, along with overall shape, fit this well.

 

[Butty]

ML375728091 - Northern Mockingbird - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML375728091; © Max Epstein; Kings, New York, United States

macaulaylibrary.org

 

[nartreb]

woodpecker to me. Red bellied

Excellent suggestion. Narrower wing bars than mockingbird, might be a better fit.

 

[Butty]

ML296139211 - Red-bellied Woodpecker - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML296139211; © Alex Lamoreaux; Cape May, New Jersey, United States

macaulaylibrary.org

 

[qwerty5]

Somehow I can't see that bird being a woodpecker, the shape seems way off. Ditto for Common Nighthawk. Northern Mockingbird seems like the best fit imo.

 

[Microtus]

The tail is too short for mockingbird and the wings are too broad, short, and rounded for nighthawk. It looks like a Red-bellied Woodpecker to me.

 

[nartreb]

Definitely the wrong proportions for a nighthawk. Hard to be confident in tail length for this photo but that looks like another point in favor of woodpecker. I've also been reviewing a bunch of photos and I think you're more likely to see the spread "fingers" like we do here on a woodpecker than on a mockingbird.

 

[Fmfoxx]

Thank you all for your responses. Sorry for the distant pic. Great input!!

 

[qwerty5]

The tail is too short for mockingbird

I thought that too at first, but I think it appears that way because the bird is angled away. It seems to match the flying Mockingbird photo from Macaulay posted above. The jizz seems off to me for Red-bellied Woodpecker, but then again my brain could be off

 

[Butty]

I think you're more likely to see the spread "fingers" like we do here on a woodpecker than on a mockingbird.

Not so, if the photos linked above are typical.