Hawk ID help - New Mexico, USA (1 Viewer)

[SusieRuss]

These very poor photos were taken at La Joya WMA north of Socorro. I added a lot of fill light to two of the photos so that the markings could be seen easily. I'm not from NM and was hoping it was a new bird to me because of the head markings and the whitish area above the striped tail. Any input would be most appreciated and apologies for the bad quality.

 

[Ignatius]

Looks like a Northern Harrier to me. Most likely a male owing to the rather light coloured underside.

 

[Butty]

Buteo, not a harrier. Looks ok for immature red-tailed hawk.

 

[nartreb]

Looks quite good for immature red-tailed hawk. Belly band just about visible in first and last shot. Tail pattern good, pattern of white blotches on upper side of wings is quite typical.

 

[jmepler]

The dark patagial bar is visible in the first and last photo as well. I think we can say that this is definitely an immature Red-tailed Hawk.

 

[SusieRuss]

Thanks everyone. A bit of wishful thinking on my part.