Fink Family Farm Bird List

Fink Family Farm Bird List

The only list I faithfully keep is a list of all the birds seen on our farm since we moved here in 1977. I thought it would be fun to add p...

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Incredibly Bad Raptor Photos

What is it? We saw it today on our raptor run. It was between Ridgeway Rd. and Hwy 22, Polk co., in a sheep field. I took photos with my camera and Johnny took lots with his through the scope. We must have acquired dirt of some sort on his camera. What a mess.Can anyone tell what this bird is from these dreadful photos?
























Okay, I'm convinced that what most of you have said is true: it's a Rough-legged Hawk. Jeff Fleischer helped explain why it could not be a Harrier: "the white is on the tail feathers and not the butt". I have never seen a Rough-leg perch on a metal fence post but they have small feet, so I suppose they can. And, to prove it, Hannah Fritz sent me a photo of a Rough-leg perched on one. I would have liked to turn my raptor into an immature Golden Eagle but Jeff says an eagle is "just too big to be perching on a metal fence post". Another suggestion was Harlan's Hawk, a subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk. But Lars says Red-tails don't have wings longer than their tails while Rough-legs do and in some of these photos (he has good eyes) the folded wings of my bird extend beyond the tail. Harlan's wings are even shorter than our usual Western Red-tail. I finally found an online photo of a Rough-leg with a golden head and white base tail, so... it's a Rough-legged Hawk. Thanks to all for the comments.




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