Walking home today in the late afternoon heat, I saw from about 100 feet away this bird standing on the ground:
I know there's no sense of scale in my photo, which is also low-res since it was shot with my phone at a distance, but take my word for it, it looked like a giant bird.
At first I thought it might be a statue, kind of a "scare bird," but it didn't make sense in the location where it was. And then it turned its head.
It stood there a minute or two longer as I got closer and took another shot or two, none better than this one, unfortunately. Then it took off, and clutched in its talons was a full-size wild rabbit.
What do you think? A young bald eagle? I am so bad at identifying birds.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
I Spy with My Eagle Eye...
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7 comments:
Possibly a juvenile red-tailed hawk?
Here are some pictures for reference.
Could be!
Juvenile bald eagles are rather difficult to identify as such; the stereotypical white head developes later. Juveniles are mostly brown. If it was carrying an adult wild rabbit, I would question if it were a red tail hawk due to size. I'm not sure red tail hawks are that large. I know Osprey are often mis-identified as bald eagles. I don't know if you're near a lake or pond, though, which is where Osprey prefer to be.
The colors sure look like a bald eagle, possibly one transitioning from its juvenile plumage to its adult colors (about three years, I think). But I would think if it had been an eagle its size alone would have left no doubt in your mind--they are almost double the size of a red-tail, with a six-foot plus wingspan.
Pete, I have to confess that I wouldn't know a red-tail hawk if one was ten feet from me, so I don't have the ability to compare.
The bird was very large when it took off -- as Cavewoman says, a red-tail couldn't carry an adult rabbit. I'm a lot more familiar with rabbits (grrrrrrrr says the gardener) and know it was a large rabbit.
So unless it's an osprey (and this location is not near a large body of water -- at least 2 miles to Como Lake, I think), a juvenile bald eagle may be the best guess. The wingspan could have been six feet... though of course now we're getting into leading the eyewitness.
That is definitely not an osprey. Adult eagle is best guess. Cool sighting--rare to see one on the ground in the city!
FYI: Red-tailed hawks are extremely common--you have seen them thousands of times sitting on light poles on the highway, and heard them even more often. You know that screech you hear in movies and TV shows all the time? That's a red-tail. (Eagles have a wimpy call.)
What a cool sighting! And to see it fly off with its prey. Glad you caught it with your phone camera and shared here.
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