Could someone help me ID this raptor?

sixdaemonbag

He/She's been helping reduce the pigeon population in my neighborhood for a week or so, for which I'm eternally grateful. I think it's a red tailed hawk, but I'm not 100% sure. I took some shots this morning while it was sitting on a light pole up the street. I live in Mesa, AZ and they're fairly common, which leads me to the red tailed guess. This time of year though, there are many other species wintering here so I was hoping someone with a better trained eye might be able to weigh in.

Opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

1.


2.


3.


4.

Hikin' Mike

My guess would be a Red-tailed Hawk only because of the banding on his belly. Note: I'm bad with ID'ing birds and especially hawks!

IraRunyan

Hikin' Mike wrote:

My guess would be a Red-tailed Hawk only because of the banding on his belly. Note: I'm bad with ID'ing birds and especially hawks!

No dought about it..... The dark belly band identifies it as a Red Tailed Hawk.

sixdaemonbag

Great.

Thanks!