White tailed eagle or just a buzzard? (1 Viewer)

[PelomyLemony]

This afternoon i visited Frampton Marshes. A White Tailed Eagle was spotted there in the morning but hadnt been seen since. Just as i was leaving i spotted this really high in the sky (hence the terrible photo). Given its distance i thought it looked bigger than a Buzzard but perhaps not vastly larger. You can still get a good idea of the shape and if you zoom in the wing 'fingers' do seem quite deep.

 

[Farnboro John]

Unfortunately that is a Buzzard (so congrats on being realistic).

A White-tailed Eagle is mind-bogglingly bigger than a Buzzard, see the two together and the difference is amazing. Also a White-tailed Eagle is essentially rectangular in wing plan, not really shaped - the traditional comparison is to a flying barn door - it has more "fingers" at the wingtip and the tail shape is different.

John

 

[Ratal]

When you see a WT Eagle? You will KNOW.

It is like a flying barn door cruising slow across the skies and absolutely dwarfs anything else in the skies around it.

 

[Murmur]

Look at the tail: buzzard. The wedge of a white-tail's, errrrr, tail is incredibly distinctive.

And, as pointed out, the size difference is huuuuuge. A goldy is waaaay larger than a buzzard and a white-tail is very noticeably larger that that.

 

[Sangahyando]

Look at the tail: buzzard. The wedge of a white-tail's, errrrr, tail is incredibly distinctive.

And, as pointed out, the size difference is huuuuuge. A goldy is waaaay larger than a buzzard and a white-tail is very noticeably larger that that.

Tail shape can appear different on juvenile/immature WTE though (although always visibly shorter than on Buzzard, proportionally speaking). Also, in overall terms of measurements, Golden Eagle is only slightly smaller than WTE, although appearing less massive and of course it also depends on the subspecies of either spp.

A White-tailed Eagle is mind-bogglingly bigger than a Buzzard, see the two together and the difference is amazing. Also a White-tailed Eagle is essentially rectangular in wing plan, not really shaped - the traditional comparison is to a flying barn door - it has more "fingers" at the wingtip and the tail shape is different.

Adult WTE has a bit of a paddle shape to its wings, at least from certain angles.