BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="SteveClifton" data-source="post: 3602700" data-attributes="member: 48420">Chris, with the greatest respect, it's all very well citing features that would easily separate the two given close views. However, none of the features you mention here are visible in the photo in post #1, and you can't really make an accurate assessment of the bird's true bulk given that the photo is slightly blurred-either due to atmospherics or because the photo is slightly out of focus. Lots has been written about this effect on a bird's true shape due to the edges fading off, and hence distorting its true silhouette.Your post above is a gross over-simplification of the issue facing birders in the field watching raptors at distance, or viewing photos of such distant birds.For me this bird is 80%, perhaps even 90% Sparrowhawk, but there is enough doubt from this single photo that it might not be one. One more image might be enough to persuade me either way, but I've seen enough of them over the years to see something slightly odd in this picture that at least makes Gos a consideration. As a matter of interest Chris, have you even seen a wild Goshawk before?</blockquote>