Missing flight feathers on Red-shouldered Hawk? (1 Viewer)

[ThrottleItOut]

Hello everyone, first post here. I saw a red-shouldered hawk the other day near Indianapolis, Indiana which had a very noticeable abnormality with the left wing. Not sure if it's just flight features missing (either from a molt or damage from a fight?) or something more significant like a broken wing. It did not seem to have a major impact on flight ability. Any thoughts?

And a second question, it looks like the forum drops image resolution significantly; is there any way around that when posting pictures?

 

[KC Foggin]

Strange! After magnifying the space does not appear to be sliced so I'm wondering if it is due to a birth defect. Let's see what others have to say.

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[TwitchieOtter]

Hello everyone, first post here. I saw a red-shouldered hawk the other day near Indianapolis, Indiana which had a very noticeable abnormality with the left wing. Not sure if it's just flight features missing (either from a molt or damage from a fight?) or something more significant like a broken wing. It did not seem to have a major impact on flight ability. Any thoughts?

And a second question, it looks like the forum drops image resolution significantly; is there any way around that when posting pictures?

View attachment 1424653View attachment 1424654

Beautiful bird