Eagle or Hawk?

[jsmith75]

My brother took a photo of this bird of prey out at Land Between the Lakes in Western Kentucky. I'm not sure if its an immature eagle or some other type of hawk. The yellow talons make me think its an eagle but the pattern on the breast is not what I would expect according to my field guide.

[mjs1973]

Red-tailed hawk.

[Tom_Proctor]

Looks like he made a run for it

Hawk

[Speed]

Red-tailed hawk.

You took my guess Mike!

:-)

[paulnj]

No guess here... young redtailed hawk

[jsmith75]

Thats the only other bird that would have come close in my guide. My brother said it was kind of small but I have seen eagles and ospreys at the same location where the photo was taken. Thanks for the feedback.

[Lava Lamp]

My brother took a photo of this bird of prey out at Land Between the Lakes in Western Kentucky. I'm not sure if its an immature eagle or some other type of hawk. The yellow talons make me think its an eagle but the pattern on the breast is not what I would expect according to my field guide.

Since the red-tailed hawk is the most common raptor most of us see, you may find it helpful to assume that it is a RTH as a starting point and look to disprove your hypothesis, if that makes sense...