Falcon - Poland (1 Viewer)

[Joern Lehmhus]

To mee the first bird appears to be a first year goshawk. I see 3 to 4 tail bands- any of the proposed falcons would have more.

Head seems a bit pale but in range. in the photo itthed "tail with Bars" head looks most contrasty, maybe it is turning head towards photographer?

AGDK , to me the bird appears bigger on the photos than a kestrel- what about apossible 1st year male goshawk , given the size difference between sexes?



later photos are adult goshawks in my opinion

 

[AGDK]

To mee the first bird appears to be a first year goshawk. I see 3 to 4 tail bands- any of the proposed falcons would have more.

Head seems a bit pale but in range. in the photo itthed "tail with Bars" head looks most contrasty, maybe it is turning head towards photographer?

AGDK , to me the bird appears bigger on the photos than a kestrel- what about apossible 1st year male goshawk , given the size difference between sexes?



later photos are adult goshawks in my opinion

The 2 Goshawks that I saw today, with pictures above here, seemed bigger and more "heavy" than the bird yesterday.. It seemed more slim, long wings and long tail while flying.. I don't know if a first year Goshawk would have reached an adult in size by now?

 

[AGDK]

I know the male Goshawk is smaller, and maybe those today were females?.. Can't really tell, since I have no experience in seeing them alive before now..

 

[Deb Burhinus]

I know the male Goshawk is smaller, and maybe those today were females?.. Can't really tell, since I have no experience in seeing them alive before now..

I agree the birds you saw today in the latter pics are Goshawks.

As far as the original images of the different bird you saw yesterday, identification from these sorts of very unclear ambiguous images (no offence!) has often less to do with ‘experience’ (I see Hobbies, Goshawk, Kestrel and Buzzards very regularly where I live and have done for years) and more to do with subjective impressions of the images imo. How one person reads an image can be very different from the next.

There is noticeable sexual dimorphism in the size of many birds of prey, (including Goshawk) but size of lone birds is very difficult to judge and there can also be overlaps between males of one species and females of another. I asked if it was Buzzard size because generally the impression of the size of a Goshawk is nearer to a Buzzard than eg a Kestrel or Sparrowhawk. Hunting/perching behaviour and flight movements are also key identification aids especially when IDing similarly plumaged birds. Btw I think you managed to observe and note a great deal (more than can be seen in the image!) so, if you are lucky enough to see it again, not only do you have the Goshawks now to compare it with in terms of behaviour but also a basic description to compare it with and build on.:t:

 

[AGDK]

Thanks for your last comment, Deb

It was great to finally see the Goshawks "alive".. Unfortunately heavy rain started right after I discovered them, so couldn't wait for them to take off and maybe get better pictures..

After 3 years of birding now, I know that the impression of a picture can deviate from many different aspects, especially when the quality is so low and people interpret pictures and details differently.. But I still appreciate the different inputs in here, since it makes me consider different options, and learning things that I wouldn't have considered..

So thanks again to all for the different inputs, even it's mission impossible with a definitive answer...

 

[dantheman]

If it's a regular spot and you can post up an image of another raptor species (or even a bird species such as Woodpigeon etc) on the same posts on here that might be quite useful for working out size comparison!

(For what it's worth, I thought it looked like a large-ish bird, but that partly depends on the width of the fence posts, which I think you mentioned you can't get to (for measuring purposes.)