Help ID this Bird of Prey

cmr164

OK birders, I have the lens but not the knowlege... What is this guy exactly?

ISO 320 , f/8.0 , 1/800 , 500mm (brightened in levels)

wxwax

cmr164 wrote:

What is this guy exactly?

Hungry?

Harryb

wxwax wrote:

Hungry?

Its a hungry hawk but thats about all I can figure out.

ysr612

Harryb wrote:

Its a hungry hawk but thats about all I can figure out.

I am not to good on birds but I think it may be a Kite.

fish

ysr612 wrote:

I am not to good on birds but I think it may be a Kite.

:nah I don't see any strings.

ginger_55

According to my plastic covered, take into the field ID thing, it could be a

Black Vulture.:D Aren't you glad you asked an expert?

ginger

ehughes

Looks like a Kite of some sort, probably a Black Kite.

Ed

graflexTom

ginger_55 wrote:

According to my plastic covered, take into the field ID thing, it could be a

Black Vulture.:D Aren't you glad you asked an expert?

ginger

Yes my books say the same. I agree... Still an awesome hunter.

Dixie

I would say that it is a Black Kite. Where was the photo taken? Knowing where the photo was taken would probably help determine what it is.

The range for the Black Kite is mainland Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India and southern Asia, New Guinea and Australia. Most migrate to warmer climes during the winter, but in parts of their range they can be seen all year round.




More about the Black Kite can be found here:
http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/black_kite.htm
http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Milvus_migrans.htm#
http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/priors/migrans.shtml

jwear

the size and location would help with i d but hawk I think Jeff

gus

I was always taught that only eagles had the 'finger feathers' at the end of the wing not kites.

Steve Pickford

Possibly a Kite of sorts, although the Red Tailed Kites here (just been re-introduced) have a longer v-tail.

Hawks have fingered wingtips like Eagles, Falcons tend to have tapered pointing wings. We also have Buzzards (look like Hawks, not the Vultures in US) that look similar to the bird in the photo but they have short blunt/rounded tails.

Edit: just looked here: http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/black_kite.htm & Black Kites also have forked tails, which this bird does not? If the photo was taken in the US, it's not a Black Kite.

Some US Raptors here: http://www.eagles.org/otherbirds.html

cmr164

Japan

Steve Pickford wrote:

Possibly a Kite of sorts, although the Red Tailed Kites here (just been re-introduced) have a longer v-tail.

Hawks have fingered wingtips like Eagles, Falcons tend to have tapered pointing wings. We also have Buzzards (look like Hawks, not the Vultures in US) that look similar to the bird in the photo but they have short blunt/rounded tails.

Edit: just looked here: http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/black_kite.htm & Black Kites also have forked tails, which this bird does not? If the photo was taken in the US, it's not a Black Kite.

Some US Raptors here: http://www.eagles.org/otherbirds.html

This guy was in Kamakura, Japan

Dixie

cmr164 wrote:

This guy was in Kamakura, Japan

That raises the chance that it is a Black Kite:

The Black Kite (Milvus migrans) is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harrierss.
It is a widespread species throughout the temperate and tropical parts of the Old World (including Europe, Asia, Japan, and all of Africa bar the Congo basin and the Sahara Desert), and Australasia. Curiously, it is not found in the island region between the South East Asian mainland and the Wallace Line.