Gulf of Mexico bird of prey help! (1 Viewer)

[JessCK11]

Hello,

I work an on oil rig offshore in Gulf of Mexico and we have two of these birds living in our derrick. Can you identify them for me? They hunt the smaller birds that get pushed out by the cold fronts. They've been living in our Derrick I want to say over two years. Is it an Osprey?

Thank you for your help!

Best Regards,
Jessica

 

[AmazonSupreme12]

Your bird doesn't look like a juvie Osprey. Maybe a falcon?

 

[JessCK11]

Like a Peregrine falcon?

 

[HH75]

Hi Jessica,
This is a juvenile Peregrine. It can be aged by, for example, the streaking (rather than barring) below, on a buffish background (whitish background on adults), the obvious pale fringes to the upperparts feathers and the blue cere (the area where the nostrils are, this is yellow on adults).
The head pattern, underparts streaking and dark iris exclude an Osprey, as would the size if one could judge that (not possible to judge with certainty here, but the bird doesn't 'feel' too large either).
Regards,
Harry

 

[nick scarle]

Looks like an immature Peregrine falcon to me.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Another for peregrine.

How far offshore are you? I know they'd get plenty of food in migration, but I'm curious what they eat mid-summer if you're far away from shore.

 

[_TheBirdNerd_]

Another for juvenile Peregrine.

 

[Nutcracker]

They've been living in our Derrick I want to say over two years.

As it's a juvenile, it must be different ones each year. Good hunting for them during the migration periods, but poor during winter and summer, so they'd leave when the migration ends.