5 replies to this topic

[PanHanNE]

All photos taken in Garden County NE (panhandle)
Different dates/years

1>Maybe a Merlin?
This was taken from my back porch through the pouring rain at maximum zoom. I thought I was zooming in on the Blue Jay I had heard squawking.. but he flew off another branch as I was snapping these.
April 2012 (2 views)

and




I am thinking all of these, as different as each looks, are probably all Swainson's Hawks?

2>
March 2009 (2 views)

and




3>Young/Juvenile Swainson's Hawk?
August 2009


4>
June 2007


I don't think either of the next two are clear enough or close enough to be able to tell, but some of you people here seem to perform miracles:

5>
Nov. 2010 (2 views)

and



6>
August 2009

[psweet]

• Broad-winged Hawk
• Looks like a pale Red-tail. The wingtips don't appear to reach the tail tip, and I think there's some pale patches on the scapulars.
• Juvenile Swainson's
• Adult Swainson's
• Red-tail
• I think this is a young Swainson's -- I'm seeing dark under the primaries on the nearer wing and no pale markings on the wings above.

[PanHanNE]

I'm hopeless when it comes to Hawks (most birds, really...but I'm trying to learn more). I keep trying, but every hawk of the same species looks SO different! Only if it has the perfect illustration plate coloring, and with the right pose, do I feel fairly confident.

#1 With no back feathers showing at all in either shot to tell if its brown, gray, or rufous, I based #1 on the small size (not much larger than the Blue Jay I thought I was zooming in on to start with.
With the wind blowing and the rain pouring, the feathers are so ruffled up that I suppose any barring or banding on the chest and belly might not show, but I also based my tentative ID of "Marlin" on both looking striped or streaked, not barred or banded.
The beak is dark at the tip, and yellow on the cere. White throat. Dark malar stripe and eyebrow.
Tail is dark, two white bars that I could see, with white tips.
But then, the golden colored eye would negate the Merlin. I missed that.

I didn't think the Broad-winged Hawk was as prevelant here as the Merlin are.
Broad-winged Hawk would be GREAT to find here. We do get them, occassionally, but we are somewhat out of their normal range, I believe. Perhaps I was wrong about that.

#2 was a total guess on my part, nothing fit.

[Liam]

• Broad-winged Hawk
• Looks like a pale Red-tail. The wingtips don't appear to reach the tail tip, and I think there's some pale patches on the scapulars.
• Juvenile Swainson's
• Adult Swainson's
• Red-tail
• I think this is a young Swainson's -- I'm seeing dark under the primaries on the nearer wing and no pale markings on the wings above.

This is what I see as well.

[psweet]

Broad-wings don't nest where you are, but they do migrate through the area, and the date is right for that.

[PanHanNE]

Broad-wings don't nest where you are, but they do migrate through the area, and the date is right for that.

Thank you, psweet. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain.