Excellent capture. I'm wondering what kind of hawk that is. My first impression was that it's a golden eagle, but there's a bit too much yellow on the beak for a golden. Got any other angles of this beauty?
This was photographed in the UK? Or North America? I am wondering if we need a European reference work, maybe.
My references are all for North America, so I am cautious, - is this a large bird like an eagle or a smaller bird like a kestrel?
I do think the neck is too short for a golden eagle and I suspect it is too small as well, but it is hard to tell from a single image.
A Harris hawk has wings that are reddish and distinctly different in color from the darker body.
Most Swanson's adult pictures I find have a grey bill, not a yellow one - Wheeler & Clark's "Raptors - A Photographic Guide to N American Raptors"
The overall shape reminds me of a skua, but a skua has more color variation in the wings and body, and doesn't have a yellow bill. It does look like an eagles bill, I agree,
I think a short tail hawk in a dark morph might look rather like this, but I don't know if short tail hawks occur in the UK.
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My references are all for North America, so I am cautious, - is this a large bird like an eagle or a smaller bird like a kestrel?
I do think the neck is too short for a golden eagle and I suspect it is too small as well, but it is hard to tell from a single image.
A Harris hawk has wings that are reddish and distinctly different in color from the darker body.
Most Swanson's adult pictures I find have a grey bill, not a yellow one - Wheeler & Clark's "Raptors - A Photographic Guide to N American Raptors"
The overall shape reminds me of a skua, but a skua has more color variation in the wings and body, and doesn't have a yellow bill. It does look like an eagles bill, I agree,
I think a short tail hawk in a dark morph might look rather like this, but I don't know if short tail hawks occur in the UK.
Anyone else confident what this bird is?
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